Spider and The Fly
by Scarpaw
Summary: It's been two months since Zorc's been defeated and the Millenium Items sealed away. Ryou was just beginning to think things had gone back to normal when he went to London to visit family... HPOotP Post Memory World A bit AU
1. To Charm A Fly

Hey! It's Paw-Chan here with yet another new story! This time it's a Harry Potter Yu-Gi-Oh Crossover. In this one, Amane and Ryou's Mum are alive. So, don't get mad, please?

_Nii-Chan- Big Brother_

_Daijobu desu ka- Are you alright?_

_Daijobu- I'm alright_

This is just the first chapter, so bear in mind.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or Harry Potter.**

"_Will you walk into my parlor?" Said the Spider to the Fly,  
"'Tis the prettiest little parlor that ever you did spy.  
"The way into my parlor is up a winding stair  
"And I've a many curious things to shew when you are there."  
"Oh no, no!" Said the little Fly. "To ask me is in vain!  
"For those who go up your winding stair can ne'er come down again!"_

**Chapter 1: To Charm A Fly**

Lightning crackled as thunder roared and rain pounded against the glass of the vehicle. Looking out the window of the vehicle, he gave a sad smile. Good ole' British weather. Always raining and always dreary. The scenery flashed by and after a while, the vehicle entered a quaint little development with each house matching the next. Some lights were on, some were off. As the vehicle stopped, the driver looked over.

"We're here Ryou." Was all he said before exiting the vehicle into the pouring rain.

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

Across the street a boy with jet black hair and emerald green eyes squinted through the pouring rain out to the street below. It was none other than Harry Potter.

Looking out the window, he watched as the doors to the vehicle that had just pulled up across the street opened. Who was visiting? Not that Harry _liked_ snooping on the neighbors- that was what Aunt Petunia did. He was only curious.

However, much to his dismay, the rain proved too thick and it was too dark for Harry to see.

Snapping off the light to his room, Harry went to bed.

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

"Ryou! You're here!" A girl with the same doe brown eyes and long white hair practically threw herself onto the drenched boy, giving him a hug. Feeling the wetness, she recoiled, scrunching her nose. "Ew! You're all wet." Ryou laughed.

"Naturally, Amane," A man with black hair and green eyes laughed. "It's raining cats and dogs out there."

"Dad!" Amane exclaimed. "Mum didn't tell me both of you were visiting!" In the doorway to one of the other rooms in the house a woman with eyes that matched Ryou and Amane's appeared, tucking a strand of pale blonde hair behind her ear.

"Ryan?" She asked, looking at the male. Her eyes drifted towards Ryou. "I thought Ryou was coming by himself." The two's father gave a soft smile.

"I decided I'd come with, Martha. It's been a while since I've seen you two as well." Ryan responded. Sensing an impending argument, Amane latched onto her brother's arm.

"Upstairs we go!" She practically sang." "You need to get dried off Nii-Chan." Ryou gave his sister a light shove at her attempt to distract them, but went up with her anyways.

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

"And this is Mangolia Park!" Amane sang, skipping over to an ancient looking swing set. Ryou looked over the small park. Besides the practically falling apart swing set there was an uneven merry-go-round and a slide that looked like it would collapse if someone above one hundred pounds got on it.

"It's… nice?" Ryou told her, the comment coming out as more of a question. Amane just laughed from her perch on the swing.

"It's alright Ryou," Amane laughed. "Mum acted the same way. The park really should be fixed up." Ryou laughed as he sat down next to Amane.

"True. It looks like it's falling apart." Ryou smiled, and Amane gave a laugh that sounded more like a cackle.

"Falling apart? The park seems like it was made in the Stone Age!" The two were laughing so hard that they nearly fell off the swing set, and neither did they notice the group of kids who stalked up into the park.

"Well, what do we have here?" A cold voice cut through their laughing. Ryou and Amane stopped and the boy went on to say, "The freak from across the street plus one." Amane blinked as she looked up at the group of boys. Ryou looked at the boys and it didn't take him long to identify them as a group of bullies. Amane spoke first.

"Wow Dudley. Congratulations! You can count! How old are you now?" Amane gave the boys a cheeky smile with her sarcastic retort, and it didn't take Ryou long either to figure out that this probably happened on a regular basis.

"Amane, leave it." Ryou ordered his sister lightly. "He's obviously not worth it." Amane sighed.

"True Nii-chan." Amane answered, ignoring the light blush that coated Ryou's cheeks. "He's nothing more than a dud anyways. Must be why his name is so perfect for him." Amane stood up from the swing, and started to head for the parks exit.

"D-Don't walk away from me!" Dudley roared, clenching his hands in fists. Lifting his fist, he stormed over to Amane's turned back.

"Amane look out!" Ryou called, pushing his sister aside as Dudley's fist crashed into his face instead of the back of his sister's. Amane let out a shriek as Ryou was knocked back onto the ground. In an instant Amane was by Ryou's side, pulling Ryou's hand away from his nose.

"Ouch," Amane winced, looking at the blood flowing from her brother's nose. "Daijobu desu ka, Nii-chan?"

"Daijobu," Ryou replied, taking Amane's hand to help him back onto his feet. His hand returned to covering his nose, pinching it, trying to stem the blood flow. Amane rolled her eyes and yanked the hand down.

"Don't!" She scolded her brother. "It's probably broken. You don't want to make it worse, do you?" Once Amane sure that Ryou's hand wouldn't go back up to his bleeding nose, she turned to the group.

"I hope you're happy!" She told them off. "Breaking Ryou's nose like that, trying to hurt me! Why don't you go kick some puppies while you're at it?!" Without waiting for a response, Amane grabbed Ryou's arm and proceeded to practically drag him away from the park.

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

"Mum!" Amane shouted once she dragged Ryou through the door. "Ryou got in a fight!" Dragging Ryou into the kitchen, Amane froze, a blush covering her cheeks.

"I-I'm sorry Professor!" Amane crowed, embarrassed, Ryou peering over her shoulder into the kitchen. There was an old man with a purple cloak on in their kitchen with their mum. "I didn't know you were going to be here!"

"What's this about Ryou getting in a fight, Amane?" Martha asked, making Amane step aside and let her brother inside.

"Idiot from across the street broke his nose!" Amane chirped. "That Dudley kid."

"I'm sorry Dumbledore," Martha told the old man, who Ryou now realized was Dumbledore. "I'm afraid we're going to have to continue our chat later. Ryou sit at the table. Now please." Ryou nodded and sat at one of the chairs at the table.

"Please Dumbledore," Martha requested, not even looking to know that he hadn't left yet. "I know this is important, but I'd rather…" Amane and Ryou tipped their heads to the side simultaneously.

"Rather what Mum?" Amane asked, and Dumbledore gave off a small chuckle.

"Yes, I can see how these two are twins," Dumbledore laughed. "I'll come back later so we can finish our discussion."

"Rather what, Mum?" Amane pressed again, and Martha turned on her daughter.

"It's none of your business Amane!" Martha snapped before turning to her son. She took a wet wash cloth and roughly washed the fifteen year old's face off, ignoring the whimpers of pain she elicited from her son.

"The bleeding seems to have stopped." Martha said. "I can't believe you would get in a fight on your first day in London!" Ryou opened his mouth to protest before Martha turned on Amane.

"And you!" Martha scolded Amane. "I thought I told you to stay away from that kid and his friends!"

"Ryou-nii and I were in the park first!" Amane protested. "He was the one who came over and started harassing us!"

"And what happened to just ignoring him?!" Martha accused. Amane let out a strangled sound like she was trying to hold back a scream before storming to the door.

"I'm going for a walk!" She snarled, slamming the door shut.

Martha sighed, glancing at Ryou who was staring at the wall as if it was the most fascinating thing in the world.

Teenagers. What could you do?

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

So yeah, that was the first chapter. As for the lack of Bakura? I'm jumping between two ideas, so depending on the idea I take he may or may not show up next chapter.

So, how was it? Read and review and tell me what you think!

~~Paw-Chan Signing Out~~


	2. A Spider's Secret

I'm so glad you guys like the story so far! It makes me so happy to have such great reviews! ^___^

**_. . .-_** I'm glad you liked it, and yup, I've decided to put Bakura in it.

**_j bear-_** Again, glad you liked it, and some of the plot holes are (sort of) filled this chapter. More will be revealed in Chapter 3, and so on and so forth...

**_subaru1999-_** Thanks, glad you liked it! ^_^

**_Kursedfire-_** I'm glad you liked it, and the way Dumbledore was introduced. I've read alot of different stories with how he was introduced directly to the characters, so I tried an indirect approach. XD

**_xDarklightx-_** Thank's, and here's more! Ryou like Bakura? Maybe a little. I can tell you that Amane will be talking Ryou into different stuff during the course of the story as we go on though.

**_Dlanor -_** Thanks! And as everybody has requested, Bakura is in this! ^_^

Thanks for all the reviews, I'm glad you liked it! ^_^ Here's chapter 2~!

/Ryou to Bakura/

//Bakura to Ryou//

_Gomen- _Sorry

_Baka Anu-_ Stupid Boy

_Che-_ Shit

_Ano...-_ Um

"Talking is like this."

'Thoughts like this'

_"Spells"_

**_'Memories or Flashbacks'_**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or Harry Potter**

"_I'm sure you must be weary dear, with soaring up so high.  
"Will you rest upon my little bed?" Said the Spider to the Fly.  
"There are pretty curtains drawn around, the sheets are fine and thin.  
"And if you'd like to rest awhile, I'll snugly tuck you in."  
"Oh no, no!" Said the little Fly. "For I've often heard it said,  
"They never, never wake again who sleep upon your bed!"_

**Chapter 2: A Spider's Secret**

//I Think they're hiding something from us, yandounishi.// Bakura's voice floated through the mind link, startling Ryou.

Yes. Even though Zorc had been beaten, and the Millennium Items sealed away in the safe hands of Malik and Isis, the Ring had managed to slip away unnoticed, back into Ryou's hands. Ryou wasn't particularly happy about that, because he had believed to be free of the thief, but Bakura had given his word that he wouldn't harm anybody else unless incentive given. Needless to say, Ryou wasn't convinced. He was actually surprised, if anything, because Bakura hadn't punched that kid- Dudley, was it that what Amane called him? -after he had harmed 'his vessel.'

/What makes you think that, yami?/ Ryou threw back, after sneaking a glance at his mum to make sure she didn't see him spacing out.

//Well your mother didn't seem to want to finish her conversation with that old coot after you were brought in, for one,// Bakura pointed out. //And it also seems like your sister knows something as well.// Ryou lightly tossed his head, shaking it in response to Bakura's question, but also making it appear to his mother that he was merely taking the 'easy'way to get his hair out of his eyes.

/We've hardly been here a day, yami,/ Ryou pointed out. /And besides, last night Mum and Amane both didn't seem like they were too willing to say anything in front of Dad./ Bakura grumbled, but before either of them could say anything, Martha's voice cut in through the quiet.

"Ryou, sweetie." She called out to her son, causing Ryou to turn his head to where his mum was located, making sure not to look as if he were guilty of something.

"Na- What Mum?" Ryou asked, biting his tongue when he nearly spoke Japanese. Mum doesn't like Japanese, Ryou reminded himself. Twitching his nose a bit, Ryou hid a smile at the fact that it was pretty much completely healed.

//Of course you twit,// Bakura snarled a bit in the back of his mind. //The Shadows always take care of their masters. Seeing as there are so few true Shadow Mages, the Shadows don't want anything to happen to the few masters they have.//

"Ryou!" Martha snapped, and Ryou jumped slightly, looking up at his mum a bit guiltily this time.

"Gomen Mum, I spaced out. Jet lag." Ryou froze though, realizing what he had just said. He braced himself, waiting to get scolded, but instead Martha just shook her head.

"English Ryou." She ordered. "But, as I was saying before you so thoughtfully spaced out, why don't you go get your sister? She probably just stalked back to the park, knowing her. I have to run an errand anyways, and I don't want to bore you with dragging you along." Ryou wasn't given a choice to respond before he was being pushed out the door.

Outside, Ryou sighed and leaned against the closed door for a moment, eyes shutting for a brief second. Maybe Bakura was right for once. Maybe his mum was hiding something from him.

But what?

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

"'Dad! Help me Dad! He's going to kill me, Dad! Boo-hoo!'" Harry felt his ears burn as he clutched his wand tightly.

"Shut up." Harry said quietly. "Shut up Dudley, I'm warning you!"

"'Come and help me, Dad!'" Dudley continued to mock Harry. "'Mum, come and help me! He's killed Cedric! Dad, help me! He's going to–!' _Don't you point that thing at me!"_

Dudley backed into the alley wall. Harry was pointing the wand directly at Dudley's heart. (**1**) However, before Harry could do anything, a soft voice cut in through the two of them, causing Harry to jump and shove his wand away and out of sight.

"Gomen, if I'm interrupting anything." Harry and Dudley both looked at the kid. Harry recognized the kid as the girl who lived in Number 7- Amane. Her white hair and brown eyes made her hard to mistake.

"It was nothing." Harry shot a look at Dudley as the response was given.

"Ano… I'm looking for my sister. Have either of you seen her?" 'Amane' asked Harry and Dudley.

"No Amane," Harry answered. "What does she look like? We'll tell her you're looking for her." 'Amane' blushed, and before she could say anything, another voice entered the quartet.

"Ryou-nii! There you are!" The person called out to 'Amane'. Harry looked at the kid confused.

"Ryou knee?" Harry questioned the Amane-look alike. The kid scratched the edge of his cheek.

"Ano… I'm Amane's brother." The kid told Harry and Dudley just as the real Amane bounded up to the group.

"Good evening Harry!" Amane chirped throwing her arms around her brother's shoulders, before taking notice of Dudley. "Greetings, fat boy."

"Amane," Ryou warned as Dudley growled, pudgy hands clenching into fists. However, before anybody could say anything, a cold feeling flooded through the alley as if the quartet had just been doused with ice cold water.

The street lights flickered out one by one, and all the lights, even the moon and stars which were out by now, disappeared, leaving them in the dark. Yet it didn't take sight to tell that the four were panicking.

"What did you do?!" Dudley demanded.

"Nothing!" Harry protested, cold flooding his veins. A Dementor? Dudley whimpered and Ryou's voice cut through the cold, lower than a whisper.

"A-Amane? W-What's going on?" Ryou asked, right before Amane let out a word that made Ryou flinch.

"_Che_!" She yelled into the night just as Dudley said to Harry.

"Y-You better stop this! I'll tell Mum!"

"Quiet!" Harry told the four, and they all quickly quieted down, save for the whimpering coming from Dudley. From both ends of the alley, the four could hear a ragged breathing from something.

"C-Cut it out! I-I'll hit you!" Dudley cried in fear, but before Harry could respond, there was the tell tale crack of fist meeting bone and Amane and Ryou knew Dudley had punched Harry. On the ground and dazed Harry was still able to tell the three,

"Don't move! Keep your mouth covered!" It was bad enough that there was a Dementor here, but the fact that he had to deal with it in front of three Muggles?

"Amane, what's going?" Harry heard Ryou say, voice still quivering but slightly calmer.

"Listen to Harry, Ryou." Amane ordered, teeth chattering slightly at the cold. She looked up, and Harry did as well. Where were the Dementors?

"_Lumos,_" Was muttered, and Harry and company found themselves wincing as bright light erupted from the tip of a wand. Harry looked disbelievingly up at Amane.

"You're a-?" Harry started, but Amane cut him off.

"Get your wand out baka anu!" She cut him off, and Harry hurriedly complied, lighting his as well.

"What's going on here?" Ryou asked, shuddering at the cold, a sense of dread filling him. However it didn't take him long to get his answer.

He heard a cloak whipping in the wind, and turned to find the source. He found himself facing what looked like a real live duel monster.

"Wha-?" He managed, before freezing completely as an old memory was drawn up forcibly.

_**-'It won't hurt a bit yandounishi.' Bakura was saying. 'It's just to make sure Malik has our complete trust.'**_

"Ryou, move!" Ryou vaguely recognized Amane's voice, but he was too afraid to move.

//What's wrong yandounishi?!// Bakura's voice was bellowing through the mind link. //What's happening?!//

_**-'N-No!' He was begging the spirit. 'Don't do this!'**_

"Expect... Expectra… Oh what's that stupid spell?!" Amane was bemoaning.

"_Expecto Patronum!" _Harry called, a silver wisp coming out of his wand tip. 'Think of something happy,' He told himself.

"_Expecto Patronum!_" He called again, getting the same result.

"_Expecto Patronum!"_ Amane shouted, her voice slightly hysterical. Nothing came out of her wand.

_**-'It will only hurt a minute.' Bakura held the knife, ready to stab Ryou. 'You won't feel a thing, yandounishi.'**_

The Dementor had its gnarled hand tipping Ryou's chin up, getting ready to kiss him. It was the final straw for Amane.

"_Reducto!"_ She practically screamed, the spell hitting the Dementor, knocking it away from Ryou. Ryou collapsed to the ground, and Amane rushed to his side.

"Be careful!" Harry warned, knowing that the Dementors' had the advantage in the darkness. They could smell their fear, despair.

Taking a deep breath, Amane forced herself to calm down. Panicking would not keep Ryou safe. Standing up, she held her wand in a death grip. Straining through her memories, she sought for the happiest one she could. Finding it, she held a good grasp on it, not letting anything else through as she practically screeched into the night,

"_EXPECTO PATRONUM!_" Erupting from her wand tip careened a beautiful phoenix (in Harry's opinion) who charged from Amane's wand lasting only long enough to drive the Dementor that had been assaulting her brother away. After the phoenix had disappeared Amane had collapsed to her knees next to her brother, pale faced and breathing heavily.

"Harry, behind you!" Amane called out. "The other Dementor!" Harry whipped around to see the second Dementor prying Dudley's arms away from his face, getting ready to kiss him.

"_Expecto Patronum_!" Harry shouted, waving his wand. Much to Harry's delight, a silver stag erupted from the end of his wand, charging at the Dementor. The Dementor vanished and slowly the streetlights and stars came back into existence, lighting the streets back up.

Harry could not believe it. Dementors, _here_ of all places. Before Harry could say anything to either Amane or Ryou, Mrs. Figg, his batty neighbor, came panting into the mouth of the alley. Harry made to stow his wand away so as to not get in any more trouble, but a screech from Mrs. Figg stopped him.

"Don't put your wand away boy!" She shrieked. "What if there are more of them around? Oh, I'm going to _kill_ Mundungus Fletcher!" (**2**)

"Evening Mrs. Figg," Amane called weakly to the woman as Harry stared blankly at Mrs. Figg.

"He left that, idiot, seeing about some cauldrons that fell off the back of a broomstick…" Mrs. Figg was ranting.

"What?" Was all Harry could manage.

"Yes Harry," Amane piped up, struggling to her feet. "Mrs. Figg's a witch." Mrs. Figg eyed the four.

"A squib," She sniffed "As Mundungus fully knows! Left, how am I supposed to help against Dementors? Completely left with no cover…" Amane shot Harry a look.

"I'll be going now," Amane muttered, nudging her brother. "Come on Ryou-nii, we need to get going." Mrs. Figg looked ready to say something, but Amane stopped her as she lifted her brother's arm, throwing it over her shoulder and heaving him to his feet.

"I'll be fine, Mrs. Figg. Mum'll kill me, but otherwise fine." At her side, Ryou groaned, shaking his head.

"Come on Ryou-nii," She said, peering sideways into garnet colored eyes. "Let's go home so Mum can kill us." And Amane stowed her wand away and preceded to half-drag her brother down out the alley and down the street.

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

**1 & 2- These sections are taken from the book, found on pgs 15 and 19 respectively**

How was it? Yeah, Amane's a witch. Harry's reaction? Ryou's reaction? Bakura's? Most will be found next chapter.

And, seeing as I don't know when I'll update next, I'll tell you why Harry didn't know Amane was a witch. She went to a different school. Which one? I'll leave that till next time, unless you can guess.

Read and Review and tell me what you think.

_Adieu._

~~Paw-Chan Signing Out~~


	3. The Spider's Wit

Hey, Paw-Chan here with Chapter 3! It would've been up last night, seriously, but everytime I went to save, I would accidentally hit something to navigate away and lose all this work. Review replies! ^_^

**_xDarklightx-_** I'm glad you like it, and you'll find that sometimes you get reactions you don't expect... ;-D

**_subaru1999-_** I'm glad you liked it, and here's the next chapter!

**_Phobias Athena-_** Glad you liked it, and here's the update.

**_Dlanor -_** I'm glad you're happy that Bakura's in it. He may not have taken over, but rest assured, he'll be coming out to play in Ryou's body soon enough. With any hope, maybe even before Diagon Alley. XP

**_Bokmal14-_** I'm glad you like it. Here's the next chapter.

**_deathnoteno1fan-codegeasslover-_** I'm glad you like it a lot. Here's the next update.

Thanks for all the reviews, I really appreciate them. And it means especially a lot because I haven't done anything Harry Potter related in about three years. So I really appreciate your support and how much you like it. Read the chapter please. ^_^

_Ritoru Tenshi- Little Angel_

_Naze- Why?_

_Nani- What?_

_Moshi Moshi- Hello for phone_

_Hai- Formal Yes_

_Aa- Informal Yes_

_Iie- Formal No_

_Ja ne- Goodbye_

_Arigato- Thank you_

_Hikari- Light_

_Yami- Dark_

_Yandounishi- Land Lord or Kings' Property_

**Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or Harry Potter**

_Said the cunning Spider to the Fly, "Dear friend, what can I do?  
"To prove the warm affection that I've always felt for you?  
"I have within my pantry, a good store of all that's nice.  
"I'm sure your very welcome- will you please to take a slice?"  
"Oh no, no!" Said the little Fly. "Kind sir that cannot be!  
"For I've heard what's in your pantry and I do not wish to see!"_

**Chapter 3: The Spider's Wit**

"Mum's not home?" Amane muttered to herself as she stumbled through the front door of the house, nearly tripping because of Ryou's weight added to her own. "Well, that's a perk, I guess…" Dragging Ryou through the house, Amane dumped her brother onto the couch in the living room before going off into the kitchen, looking for something.

Rummaging through the kitchen drawers, Amane groaned at the fact that the only chocolate she could find was Chocolate Frogs. Didn't Mum have any normal chocolate in the house?

Sighing Amane picked a Chocolate Frog and tore the paper off, eating it herself. Wandering back into the living room she settled herself onto the chair (seeing as Ryou was sprawled out on the couch) and flipped the TV on. With any luck perhaps she could pass the experience off as a bad dream. But then again, he might not be happy about that…

Amane sighed, staring aimlessly at the TV guide for something at least _okay_ to be background noise. Just as she settled on a horrible movie mockery of magic (Leah Jones and The Magic Chamber (**1**)) a sound of ringing started. Glancing at the phone she determined that it wasn't the house phone.

There it was- on the coffee table! It was Ryou's cellular. Picking it up off the coffee table, she glanced at the caller id-

_Malik Ishtal_

Amane remembered Ryou talking a bit about that boy in his letters (**2**). Blonde, Egyptian, a little 'unique' as he put it. Wore revealing clothes, and wore gold jewelry. Had pierced ears? Nibbling her lip, Amane looked over at Ryou. He was still out.

'Do Ryou and I still sound alike on the phone?' Amane wondered to herself. Taking a breath, Amane snuck one last glance at Ryou before deciding.

"_Moshi Moshi?_"

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

If Malik was surprised to hear Ryou answer the phone after what seemed to be the hundredth ring, he did not show it. However, he was surprised at the lilting tone in Ryou's voice. He hadn't heard the hikari so happy since… Well, Malik didn't think there was a time that he had actually heard him so happy.

"Ryou?" Malik asked over the phone to make sure.

"_Hai, Malik-kun?"_ Ryou answered, Japanese falling through the phone like raindrops. "_What is it?_" Malik suppressed a sigh. He really didn't want to worry Ryou when he sounded so happy.

"Just calling to check up on you. Doing okay?" Malik asked instead.

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

Amane started. This 'Malik Ishtal' actually believed she was Ryou! Glancing over at her out-of-it nii-san, Amane suppressed a girlish giggle.

"Hai, daijobu. Naze?" Amane replied, Japanese rolling off her tongue like she had spoken it for about six years straight in the county itself.

"_Just wondering._" Amane heard Malik shuffling a bit on the other end. "_Ano… Isis, Rishid and I are going to be in Japan for most of the summer. Isis is helping out with an exhibit at the museum so we're going to be here for a while._"

"Arigato," Amane replied to Malik. As if sensing Malik's confusion she added. "For telling me, Malik-kun."

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

"Aa," Malik responded. "Anyways, do you want to hang out? Haven't seen you in a while." Malik sort of flinched. He felt bad about lying to Ryou. Well, not all of it was a lie, but still.

"_Ano…_" Ryou responded, sounding a bit more like the Ryou Malik knew from back when he had the Millennium Ring.

"I mean, I know you may not be exactly willing after all that's happened between us,-(**3**)" Malik jumped the gun, but before he could finish, Ryou gently cut him off.

"_Iie,_" Ryou told Malik. "_It's just…_" Red flags went up in Malik's head. It couldn't possibly be that…?

"Nani?" Malik asked, interrupting Ryou.

"_I'm visiting family. In England._" Ryou told Malik.

It took him a few seconds to process what Ryou told him.

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

"_Nani?!_" Amane let a giggle slip out at Malik's reaction while simultaneously looking at her brother.

He was still out of it.

"Hai." Amane answered. "I haven't seen them in a few years."

"_Because of the Spirit?_" Malik asked, and Amane started, quickly recovering. So he knew?

"Hai." Amane told Malik before quickly jumping to the defense. Ryou was so predictable with reactions. "Demo, it's not his fault Malik-kun-!" But before Amane could finish Malik was cutting her off.

"_Like Hell it's not Ryou!_" Malik started ranting. "_He practically ruled your life; you shouldn't be so forgiving-!_" Amane however stopped listening as she heard the click of the lock to the door turning. Mum was home!

"Gomen Malik-kun," Amane apologized quickly. "I have to go. Ja ne." And Amane quickly hung up the phone, tossing it back onto the coffee table.

When her mum looked into the living room, she looked like the perfect _ritoru tenshi_.

"What happened?" Martha asked instantly.

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

Malik scowled at his cell phone. Ryou hung up on him! Ryou actually had hung up on him! Grumbling, Malik pocketed the phone.

He had a feeling Ryou had been hiding something from him. That lilting tone of his voice, that one laugh… was it just him or did he seem slightly more feminine than usual?

Malik smirked, trying his hardest not to laugh at the thought that just appeared in his head as he fell back on his bed.

Maybe Ryou hit puberty- turning him into more of a girl than guy.

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

Much to Amane's displeasure and dismay, her brother stirred. Sitting up, a hand was held to his forehead as he asked the same exact question his mum had.

"What happened?" Ryou asked. "I feel like I got ran over by a Blue Eyes White Dragon."

"Uh, nothing?" Amane answered, but she didn't sound too convincing.

"Amane." Martha said, tone warning, but before Amane could say anything, Ryou cut through.

"Wait-!" He cried looking at his sister. "You're a witch?" Amane gulped, head turning downwards, drawing circles in the carpet with her foot.

"What happened?!" Martha rounded on her daughter just as an owl swooped through the open window.

//Yandounishi, I do believe I have a newfound respect for your mother,// Bakura laughed as Amane got chewed out.

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

_Dear Ms. Bakura,_

_We have received intelligence that you performed the Blasting Charm (__**4**__) and the Patronus Charm at half past eight (__**5**__) this evening in a Muggle inhabited area with Muggles present._

_The severity of this breach of the Decree for Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery has resulted in your expulsion from Beauxbatons Magical Institute for Magical Arts(__**6**__). Ministry representatives will be calling at your place of residence shortly to destroy your wand._

_Though no past offences, you have broken the Statute of Secrecy and we cannot let that be. As it is so, you will still have to attend a disciplinary hearing August 12th at 9 A.M._

_Hoping you're well,  
Yours sincerely,_

_Majalda Hophirk_

_IMPROPER USE OF MAGIC OFFICE_

_Ministry of Magic(__**7**__)_

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

"Patronus? Reducto?! Amane what happened?!" Martha raged, Amane and Ryou wincing while Bakura seemed to enjoy the onslaught from his Soul Room.

"It was, ano… Dementors?" Ryou answered, struggling to remember what the one boy had called them.

"Dementors? Here?" Martha asked, and Amane nodded. Martha sighed, looking between the letter and the twins.

"I'll contact your Uncle and bully him into helping," Martha said at last. "Amane, mind filling your brother in?" Amane cast Ryou a look.

"Well…" Martha gave Amane a look of her own just as a second owl flew in the window.

Amane made to grab for the letter, but Martha beat her daughter to it, snatching the letter. Scanning over it quickly, she informed Amane,

"Professor Dumbledore took care of it." She told Amane. "If you're expelled or not will be decided at the hearing, and you get to keep you wand until then as well." She gestured to couch.

"Sit." She told them, and Ryou and Amane sat down. "Obviously, I have a lot of explaining to do."

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

"You see Ryou, sweetie," Martha told her son. "I'm a witch, as well as your sister." Ryou tried to find something to say. Unfortunately, Bakura had his own opinion, voicing it himself without taking control of the body.

"But magic hasn't been around for five millennia!" Was the protest that escaped. Martha blinked before snorting softly.

"No doubt your father's doing." Martha muttered. At her son's confused look she said, "Your father has no magic. He's what the people of the Wizarding World call 'Muggles'."

"That doesn't make you one though." Amane cut in. "You're a half-blood. Like me. Mum's Pure, so we're Half. And before you ask, of course you have magic. We're twins, remember? It's extremely rare that one twin has magic and the other doesn't."

"And you have schools… to teach this?" Ryou asked, and Martha nodded.

"There are three major ones," Amane cut in. "Hogwarts, which is the one that is considered 'local' for most wizards. It's up in Scotland. There's Beauxbatons which is for the Arts. It's located in France and I go there. And then there's Durmstrang in Bulgaria. It's more about dark magic." Ryou blinked, trying to keep a grasp on the information.

"So Professor Dumbledore…" Ryou asked. "Does he teach at one of these Schools?" Amane nodded.

"He's the Headmaster of Hogwarts." Amane answered.

"And Dementors? What are those?" Ryou asked, mind wandering back to the creatures that looked like the Card Reaper from Duel Monsters.

"Dementors are dark creatures," Martha told Ryou, shooting her eldest a look when Amane opened her mouth to say something. "They make the people around them relive their worst memories and feed off of negative emotions. Then, when they are allowed or told to, they steal souls. They guard the Wizards' Prison Azkaban." Ryou stiffened, but neither his sister nor mum noticed.

/S-Sounds like you, yami,/ Ryou told Bakura, who snorted.

//Yeah right.// Bakura scoffed. //If I want to steal someone's soul I don't have to _kiss_ them.//

"Ryou, you alright?" Martha asked, perched on the edge of her chair, looking at her son a bit worriedly. Why was he spacing out like this?

"Fine Mum," Ryou replied. In reality, his mind felt like it was going to explode with everything he had just been forced to take in.

"Maybe we should let him rest Mum?" Amane asked. "It is an awful lot to take in, if you think about it." Martha nodded, before glancing at the clock.

"Bed, both of you." She said instead. Martha watched as her twins got off the couch simultaneously in one fluid motion and walked upstairs to bed at the same pace, as if their hearts were beating at the same speed, together like their movements.

And who knew?

Maybe they were.

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

**1- Kind of mocking Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets. No offence Harry Potter Fandom People.**

**2- Just because Amane is alive doesn't mean Ryou never sent her any letters. Makes you wonder just how much she knows, huh?**

**3- Mind out of the gutters people! This is not insinuating a MalikxRyou pairing! (Or is it?... Hmm... Ideas...)**

**4- I do not know the official term for Reducto, so it has been named this.**

**5- Order of the Phoenix says 9:23. Paw-Chan says 8:30. Paw-Chan is right because this is her story. *Fourth Wall breaks***

**6- Goblet of Fire never specifically said what Beaubatons was, so I made it a school of Arts. Got a problem? Too bad.**

**7- The whole letter is pretty much quoted from Harry's letter in the book on pgs 26-27**

This chapter probably has the most notes for the rest of the story. And yes. There is Malik. I don't think I could have gone a whole story without him appearing once. The whole phone conversation between Amane and Malik was pretty much to leak information (unwittingly) to Amane and prove how oblivious Malik is as well as how feminine Ryou is to him (Okay that's a lie...). And with the phone conversation you'll find that I may not be revealing exactly a lot on either end... *kukuku...*

And before any of you guys say that it's not possible for Ryou and Amane to sound the same, I'll point out that they're _twins_, so it is possible. Besides, my sister and I sound the same, and my sister is about two years older than me.

There are no set pairings yet, but if you want one, I'll try and make it happen. (Points at note 3) However, these pairings will not happen if one of the characters in the pairing will not appear in the story at all (because I'm not going through the hassle of giving them a part), and I also must have three or more requests for that pairing. As pairings appear, they'll show at the end of each chapter with the number of requests they have. Kaiba and Jou will not be in this/have major parts. Yugi will most likely appear, but it still is uncertain that he will have a big part. Absolutely no Yami no Malik/Marik.

Others you may ask about if uncertain.

Read, Review, Enjoy, Hate or Flame. It doesn't matter. They all keep the Ninja Bunniez of Doom happeh.

~~Paw-Chan Signing Out~~


	4. The Fly Flies While The Spider Lies

Here, two day's after Valentine's Day with Chapter 4! ^_^ Review Replies!

**_Phobias Athena-_** Thanks, and yes. Ryou is going to Hogwarts.

**_xDarklightx-_** Glad you like it, and you shall get your answer this chapter.

**_j bear-_** I'm glad you liked it. Yami no Malik? Marik? Possibility, but I don't think. We'll see. Again, answer's this chapter. I know right? I'd get my soul stolen from Bakura anyday if that was how he stole souls. ^_^

**_subaru1999-_** Alright, we'll see what happens! Glad you liked the chapter as well!

**_Bokmal14-_** I'm glad you liked the chapter, and thanks for the compliment!

**_Dlanor -_** Like the other two, an answer is in this chapter. And, if you don't find the answer adequate, I'm sure there will be a better one in later chapters.

**_Escapedslave99-_** Thanks.

Thank you for all the reviews! I'm glad you like it. Here comes the few translations, and then it's Chapter 4, here we come! (Though a few of the translations are stated in the story).

_Otouto- Little Brother_

_Otouto-tenshi- Angelic little brother_

_Onee- Older Sister/ Big Sister_

_Nee- Plain ole' Sister_

_Nii- Plain ole' brother (I know Chapter 1 says big brother, but it's actually just brother)_

_Konbanwa- Good Evening/ Hello in the evenings_

**Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or Harry Potter**

"_Sweet creature," Said the Spider. "You're witty and your wise.  
"How handsome are your gauzy wings, how brilliant are your eyes.  
"I've a little looking glass upon my parlour shelf.  
"If you step in one moment, you shall behold yourself."  
"I thank you good sir," She said, "For the words you're pleased to say,  
"And bidding you good morning now, I'll call another day."_

**Chapter 4: The Fly Flies While The Spider Lies**

Amane walked down the short hall to the guest room, where Ryou was staying. She was still debating whether or not she should tell Ryou his friend called, in so basically telling her brother that she had pretended to do so at the same time. Stepping back, she shook her head. No, she wouldn't. She wouldn't because she could tell there was something off about why Malik had called. He wasn't telling the whole truth.

But she could just ask if he was doing alright with everything he had just learned.

"Otouto-tenshi?" Amane peered around the open door. It was normal for her to change the honorifics she donned her brother with on his sporadic visits, so Ryou thought nothing of it when he heard his onee-sans' voice originate from the door to the bedroom.

"Oh my God, what happened to you Ryou?!" Amane yelped, honorifics left off as she darted into the room, ignoring the fact that her brother was shirtless.

Ryou froze, before snatching a shirt and starting to tug it over his head to hide the scars. Amane's hand stopped him. Her fingers traced the scar on his shoulder gently, and Ryou flinched.

"It's nothing." Ryou said instantly, but Amane's voice overlaps his response.

"Darn." Was all she commented on the scar. "Guess this makes switching places a bit harder, doesn't it?"

"I-I guess." Ryou answered, tugging the shirt completely on. "What did you want?"

"To make sure you didn't have any questions," Amane answered, going and sitting on the edge of Ryou's bed. "Or just talk. We both know we haven't done much of that lately." Ryou came over and sat on the beds edge next to Amane.

"Any questions?" Amane asked, and Ryou paused. He actually had so many questions! Seeing the look on Ryou's face, Amane laughed lightly. "Here, why don't I start from Mum and Dad's divorce? That's a good start."

"Alright," Ryou nodded, but before Amane went on, a finger was stuck in his face.

"On one condition." She told him.

"What?" Ryou asked.

"You tell me _everything._" Amane informed Ryou. "And I mean _everything._ No editing. I'll know if you do." Ryou bit his lip.

/Yami?/ Ryou nudged Bakura. /Is that alright?/

//Just be careful with how much you let slip.// Bakura growled. //She's probably already suspicious because of that scar.// Ryou nodded.

"Alright Amane-nee," Ryou agreed and Amane smiled.

"Alright," Amane said. "You see, Dad didn't take too kindly to the idea of magic. I guess it really all started shortly after you got the Millennium Ring." Bakura started.

//You told her about the Ring?!// Bakura was furious. He started ranting before Ryou could get a word in edgewise. //Do you know how stupid that is?! What if somebody else got that information?! You could've caused something terrible to happen!//

"You see, Mum thought it was 'bouts of accidental magic that caused our friends' comas." Amane told Ryou. "Something about us being twins, making the accidental magic that much more dangerous. Of course, we knew better. We could figure out that it was the Ring before we even knew what it was."

/She figured it out on her own!/ Ryou protested. /It's not my fault she bullied me into telling!/

//You're too weak yandounishi, letting yourself get pushed around.// Bakura scoffed, not saying anything else.

"However, Dad flipped at the idea of it being magic." Amane continued. "He doesn't believe in magic. That's why the divorce happened. And unfortunately, Mum couldn't get custody of both of us. Dad managed to get a hold of you." Amane sighed, before saying something else.

"Are you still into the occult Ryou-nii?" Amane asked him.

"Y-Yeah, why?" Ryou asked Amane. His sister though just laughed and tossed her hair over her shoulder.

"Just wondering." Amane answered. "Anyways, you should've gotten a letter to the school of Magic in Japan. I think Mum said it was called… Ano…" Amane bit her lip before it suddenly came to her.

"Oh! It's called Hiroto's School for the Magically Inclined." Amane exclaimed softly. "But anyways, most magic schools take kids in when they're eleven. However, Dad did want you to go."

"How do you know this?" Ryou asked Amane. How did Amane know all this and he didn't? Amane laughed softly.

"I overheard Mum and Dad talking about on the phone." Amane admitted. "Mum was threatening Dad that if he didn't let you go that she would make sure you got into a school here in England. Dad obliged, saying that he'd let you go." Amane sighed.

"However, it became apparent last year that you were never accepted- that Dad never let you go." Amane messed with her hands in her lap, not able to bear looking at her brother. As if sensing Ryou's confusion and impending question, Amane looked up at her brother. "Mum got a hold of the Headmaster at Hiroto's. Told Mum that the letter was sent out but Dad told him that you were going for the traditional way of magic learning- apprenticeship." Amane laughed.

"Mum was furious. That's why she wanted you to come 'visit' this summer." Amane admitted. "She wants you to go to school at Hogwarts this year. She's even making me transfer out of Beauxbatons so you won't be alone."

//She's not telling the whole truth, yandounishi.// Bakura's voice piped from a corner of Ryou's mind, startling him.

/What makes you say that yami?/ Ryou asked, looking at his sister. Bakura barked a laugh.

//It's obvious.// Bakura admonished his hikari. //She's refusing to make eye contact. She's obviously hiding something.//

"But…" Amane's voice cut through Ryou's conversation with Bakura.

"But what?" Ryou asked, and Amane bit her lip again.

"I don't think Mum is telling the truth." Amane told Ryou.

"Why's that?" Ryou asked, his and Bakura's curiosity piqued.

"It's just…" Amane started, pausing to take a breath. "It's just, I think she's hiding something. She started acting odd and really wanted you to come here one day after work. She seemed a bit different, but she kept brushing me off, telling me that she just didn't want you to kill yourself with a bout of accidental magic." Bakura sniffed, scoffing in his soul room.

//Like 'accidental' magic could kill us.// Bakura scoffed, and Ryou let a giggle out in his head.

/Yeah,/ Ryou agreed. /Yami Yugi's already proven time and gain that you have the tenacity of a cockroach./ Bakura nodded in agreement before he realized what exactly Ryou had said.

//Hey!// He protested.

"Now Ryou, why don't you tell me what happened to you over the years?" Amane asked. Ryou sighed and began telling Amane his tale.

An hour later, Martha came up the stairs to bed, and passed Ryou's room to see the twins' with their backs against the headboard, fast asleep. Ryou's head (for it could only be Ryou, in her opinion) had his head tipped against Amane's shoulder, and Amane's head was propped against Ryou's.

Laughing slightly to herself, Martha silently shut the door to the bedroom, going to her own room. (**1**)

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

**(Time Skip- Approx. 1 week) **(**2**)

"But Mum!" Amane whined. "Do we have to? I mean, we're going to be with the _Weasley's_! Fleur said that they were weird!" Ryou watched the argument between his sister and mum, with an odd look on his face like he couldn't decide whether to be confused or laugh.

Bakura, on the other hand, chose to laugh.

"They are not _weird_ Amane!" Martha snapped. "Besides, I'm sure they'd think the same about you! We're going, and that's final!" Amane grumbled, but gave up the battle. She stormed upstairs, and Ryou followed behind her, a bit uncertain.

"What's so wrong about the Weasley's?" Ryou asked Amane, standing in the doorway to her room. Amane sighed and shook her head.

"I don't know." Amane admitted. "I just felt like giving Mum a hard time." Ryou looked at Amane confused.

"Why?" Ryou asked, walking into Amane's bedroom.

"Probably because she's forcing me to switch schools." Amane told Ryou. "I figure she should have to go through something trying, if she's making me transfer schools- as well as you." Amane added as an afterthought. Ryou nodded. He didn't really get Amane's logic, but there was a point. Somewhere…

/I don't want to change schools…/ Ryou muttered in his head, jumping slightly as Bakura responded.

//Ah, but it seems you never get it your way, does it yandounishi?// Bakura commented. Sadly, Ryou had to agree.

"So, uh, how are we getting to this Grimmuald place?" Ryou asked Amane. She shrugged.

"Won't be by brooms- you don't know how to fly, plus we only have one." Amane responded, not noticing her brother's wide eyes. "Apparition is a little dangerous with more than one person tagging along. We'll probably end up Flooing straight there."

"Floo? What's that?" Ryou looked at Amane oddly.

"Oh, that's right!" Amane gasped. "We never really explained magical transportation, did we?" Ryou shook his head.

"Well," Amane said. "There are broomsticks, obviously- it's a cliché by now. There's Apparition, appearing from one place to another. It's dangerous though and you have to be seventeen to get your license. It's the way Wizard's drive, in a sense." Ryou nodded.

"At Beauxbatons we use Pegasus," Amane continued, "You know, flying horses, like from Hercules?" Ryou nodded. "Floo is similar to Apparition though, except you don't need a license."

"What is it?" Ryou asked again.

"You travel through fireplaces," Amane responded, and Ryou paled while Amane laughed at her brother.

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

"You know what we just overheard?" The twins were standing at the doorway to Ron and Harry's room, grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

"What?" Harry dared to ask, the three looking up from the law books Hermione was forcing them to look over. Harry's trial was in three days, after all.

"We got some more people coming to the house," Fred (or was it George?) informed them.

"Seems like they're going to be appearing just in time for supper too," George (or was this Fred?) added. Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged glances. Who could it be?

However, before any of the three could answer, Mrs. Weasley appeared at the door.

"Supper," She said, ushering the five downstairs.

Down in the kitchen, the five arrived just in time to see a woman with brown eyes and pale blonde hair step gracefully out of the fireplace.

"Bloody hell!" Ron mumbled to Harry and Hermione. "She looks like a female version of Malfoy!"

"Martha, so good you made in time for supper!" Molly interrupted, not hearing her sons' whispered comment as they stepped fully into the dank kitchen.

"We would've been here sooner," 'Martha' told Molly, giving her a hug, "But the kids threw a fit." Molly nodded, flashing a look to the boys as if she understood completely.

"So where are they?" Molly asked. As if on cue, the fire flared up and out of the fireplace tumbled two kids. The one quickly jumped to their feet, while the other sat up grumbling.

"I can't believe you did that!" The one sitting whined. The one standing up rolled their eyes.

"It's not like you were going to do it willingly!" The other protested. "Honestly, it wasn't so bad."

"Do I want to know what transpired?" Martha cut through.

"No Mum," The two quickly said, looking up, the one on the floor getting to their feet.

The people in the room looked at the two kids. They were identical in every aspect, and Harry figured that if the ash was cleaned out of their hair, it would prove to be white. Look at their complexion, Harry also figured that the two could give the Malfoy's a run for their money. Looking at the two closer, he recognized the one- the both of them.

"Amane?" Harry asked, and the one flashed him a smile.

"Konbanwa Harry!" Amane greeted, the twin by her side giving a smile as well.

"Konbanwa." The twin of hers said, leaving most of them to assume that it was some sort of 'Hello'. Their mother didn't seem happy.

"Sorry." She apologized. "Ryou spent most of his life with his Father in Japan. They know it as a second language. They enjoy being difficult." The twins blinked, confused and tipped their heads together in unison.

"What?" They said, causing the adults to laugh. The two smiled, laughing a bit.

The twins had been sent down to the end of the table where the other kids were, giving Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Fred and George their chance to examine and interrogate the Amane and Ryou.

"So what Wizarding School do you go to?" Ron asked immediately after supper was started.

"Beauxbatons." Amane replied coolly. "Nii-chan hasn't had a magical education up 'til this point because Otou-san doesn't like magic. Mum and Dad got divorced and Dad took Nii-chan to Japan with him. Hiroto's isn't a very pressing school to make sure kids get an education."

"Otou-san means Father," Ryou jumped in to clarify, causing the kids to jump a little. They hadn't expected his voice to be so soft. "Nii-chan is a variation on how to say brother."

"Are you coming to Hogwarts this year Ryou?" Hermione asked. "To get an education?"

"Hai- I mean, yes. Amane and I are both coming this year." Ryou answered. "Mum is having Amane transfer so I won't be alone." Ryou cast a glance towards Frad and George. "And yes, Amane and I are twins."

"How did you-?" They started, and Amane laughed.

"It's a talent he has." Amane told them. "Don't worry about it. You get used to it."

"What's Beauxbatons big play this year?" Ginny asked. "I heard they do one every year for the whole school and surrounding ones that want to come." Amane laughed, casting a sneaky glance towards Ryou, who blinked and looked at her confusedly.

"It's _The Prince of Egypt_." Amane laughed, practically crying into her soup. The others didn't get the joke while Ryou merely scowled darkly.

"Ha ha, very funny," 'Ryou' muttered darkly, stabbing at his food. The others seemed confused.

"What's so funny?" Harry asked at last, and Amane had to take a second to catch her breath. However, before she could say anything, Ryou answered.

"Last time I was in Egypt with Dad I had been going through one of the Tombs by myself. I got trapped in the tomb." 'Ryou' explained. "And now Amane thinks it's funny to bring up anything Egypt related."

"Relax Ryou, it was just a joke," Amane shot back. Before anything else could be said, Martha's voice cut down the table through the noise.

"You two better not be fighting." Amane and Ryou flashed sheepish looks down the table.

"We're not!" They called down.

"You should relax Martha," Lupin told her. "They're kids. And from what I've gathered, they haven't been together for a few years. What's the shame of some harmless teasing?" Martha sighed.

"You're right, Remus." Martha admitted. "It's just…"

"What?" Lupin asked, and Martha shook her head lightly.

"It just feels like something bad is going to happen. Like there's something terrible that's going to happen to my kids." Martha responded. "But that's nonsense. Hogwarts is the safest school around." Remus nodded.

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

"So when's your trial?" Amane's voice seemed to cut through the still after dinner, and nearly everybody froze to watch the exchange.

"Trial?" Harry asked, and Amane nodded.

"You know, the one that you received after using the Patronus to help otouto and I? And that big oaf cousin, too, I guess." Amane replied with a shrug. A breath that nobody seemed to be holding was let out like air in a balloon and slowly chatter picked up again.

"The twelfth. At nine in the morning," Harry answered, and Amane laughed.

"Figures."

"What figures?" Harry asked.

"Just that they'd put our trials at the same time." Amane responded. "They probably want to get us over with quickly, seeing as it was the same area. Ministry probably wouldn't accept us being at the same place though- don't want us 'collaborating' stories and making sure they match up." An odd smile was on Amane's face and Ryou picked it up a bit startled.

"Amane, you don't want me-?" Ryou started, face turning red. Luckily, no adults were around, and the only ones in this exchange were the kids.

"Boys, ladies," Amane smirked at the group. "Why don't we see just exactly how my otouto-tenshi- my angelic little brother -looks like a girl?" **(3)**

And Ryou buried his face in his hands while Bakura howled in laughter in the back of his head.

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

**1- Come on, you think their own Mum would be as heartless as to move those two in such a Kawaii position? Now, if it only were Bakura and Ryou. *Twitches and suppresses Tendershipping Tendencies***

**2- I am going off as the Dementors' attacked on August 2nd. The book doesn't give a specific date, it just mentions in passing that Harry's birthday has already passed and that's on July 31st. So, we skip one week ahead from the 2nd to give us the 9th of August, three days from Harry and *ahem* 'Amane's' trial.**

**3- Don't deny it. You WANT to see it. You sick, sick fangirls. *And yes, guilty as charged***

Head reeling? Shouldn't be, unless you're in shock from the ending. In that case, go find a different story because it is seriously happening. Ryou's going total feminine! ^_^ I'm sorry, but I couldn't resist.

In other news, the pairing requests so far!:

**_MalikxRyou- 2_**

**_BakuraxRyou- 1_**

You better get voting! You can pick one of these two, or you can pick a different pairing. Just remember, three votes and that pairing will happen! ^_^

Please read and review and tell me what you think!

~~Paw-Chan Signing Off~~


	5. To Save A Fly

Chapter 5 anyone? ^_^ This is the chapter that we see Ryou dressed as a girl! ^_^ Review replies!

**_subaru1999-_** Nothing does, but wouldn't that be funny? Sorry, I may seem a little sadistic. I think traumatizing people is funny! (It depends how though. Ryou as a girl? Definitely a funny traumatize.) Thanks for the review!

**_deathnoten01fan-codegeasslover-_** Glad you liked it, and here's your update!

**_Escapedslave99-_** Thanks, I'm glad the story is worth your time.

**_Bokmal14-_** I know right? I told my bff and she cracked up laughing, and was like, 'oh god!' XP Thanks!

**_xDarklightx-_** Thanks, I'm glad you liked it.

**_Dlanor -_** Glad you liked the chapter.

**_Ryou-_** I never said I had to have a pairing! I said if _you_ wanted a pairing. Those are two different things. Still, thanks for the review and the vote! ^_^

**_Phania-_** I know, I like it too. I hate it when Ryou comes off meek and Bakura too mean. I think that's why Ryou was so pushed down and left out in the anime. I've changed Ryou's persona a bit to fit with this new world of his sister actually being alive. And yeah, possessive Bakura no matter the pairing. I'll try and make that work!

**_Phobias Athena-_** Glad you like it so much. Thanks for the review!

**_Rainbow Heart-_** Yes, I know you are. XP We all are so it's no matter. At least, the true Ryou fangirls are. XD 'Cuz I mean, who doesn't imagine their favorite guy in a dress at least _once_? Thanks for the review, and I glad you like it so much.

**_Anonyymous-_** Glad you like it! ^_^

**_YamiIcepath-_** I know, ones with Amane are like a dying race. You don't see much of them. I'm glad you like this though. And I sort of agree; the ones with all three going does get a little cliche after a while... But there are still ones that have all three going that are real good! *Tries to save herself from getting eaten alive by authors of said stories reading this* Thanks for the review!

**_Paradox the Maniacal-_** I'm glad you like it! ^_^

**_Reflective Reviewer 7-_** I'm sorry, I am not Lord. (Or Lordess for that matter) I wish I was Amateratsu (Japanese Goddess of Light) or even Hermes (Greek messenger) if only for his freakin' awesome flying shoes... Here's the update though, and thankls for reviewing!

You guys. I just love you all. You guys make life worth it. You make me think this story is worthwhile. ^_^ Now the Spider and the Fly is averaging about 8 reviews per chapter, even though we made 14 last chapter! ^_^

Here's the chappie! ^_^

**Disclaimer: I have over 200 Yu-Gi-Oh cards and all 7 Harry Potter books, yet they are nothing alike to the real thing. T.T**

_The Spider turned him roundabout and went into his den,  
For he knew the silly Fly would soon be back again.  
So he wove, a subtle web in a corner sly,  
And set his table ready, to dine upon the Fly._

**Chapter 5: To Save A Fly**

'Amane' had been fidgeting the whole way to the Ministry. Arthur and Harry both gave her (him) odd looks, but she (he) just shook her (his) head and told them it was nothing. Mr. Weasley bought it, but Harry knew better.

'Amane' was fidgeting because 'Amane' was actually Ryou. Harry didn't even want to know how Ryou had been forced into a light blue blouse or matching white miniskirt. Or heels for that matter. (**1**) To be honest, Harry honestly wouldn't have known it was Ryou instead of Amane with how he was dressed.

Harry did know though that all the times in the past three days that Amane had drug Ryou off for 'educational 'magic' tutoring' it was in fact to help Ryou fit Amane's part better. Not that Ryou needed any help in his and Ron's opinion. Just looking at the two you couldn't tell which was which.

Meanwhile, next to him on the train, Ryou sighed.

/Why did I even agree to this?/ Ryou moaned in his mind, staring at his reflection in the train window. Amane had taken the time to put his hair up and braid it. She had even gone to the lengths of twining a (matching) blue ribbon in his hair through the braid. It was mortifying. Just imagine if Yugi-tachi found out about this! He would never be able to live this down! Jounouchi and Honda would keep bringing it up!

//Quiet woman!// Bakura snapped, smirking at how ironic the insult was as well as Ryou's recoil. //It's not my fault you let yourself get talked into this! Grow a backbone if you don't want this stuff to happen. Just don't let your bemoaning leak over to me!// And with that, their link was cut off.

Not that Ryou minded. Looking up, he quickly stood up, standing next to Harry and Mr. Weasley, deciding that the looks the scruffy man at the end of the train car was giving him was just a tad bit creepy.

As Amane would so eloquently put it, '_That man looks and acts like a creeper. Now all he has to do is come over and hit on us and it'll be official._' It actually happened once to them. It was last week sometime- two days after those 'Dementors' had attacked. Amane had drug him to London 'to see the sights' as she had put it, and while they had been in a seemingly harmless fast food place, they noticed a man giving them strange looks out of the corner of their eyes. Amane had automatically said, '_He looks like a creeper_' and Ryou could not disagree as she also added, '_If he comes over and hits on us, it's official._' Needless to say, the man had come over and started making small talk with them. And, obviously, the twins were very quick to leave after that.

But that wasn't the point. The point was that Ryou didn't like dressing like a girl. It was bad enough that he was feminine looking some of the time-

//Most, you mean yandounishi,// Bakura quipped his opinion, ignored.

-but it was downright degrading that he had to dress like this! Sure, he and Amane had switched places before-

//So you've cross dressed before yandounishi? I honestly did not expect that,// Bakura was laughing again, and Ryou could feel his cheeks burning.

-but never had they gone to this extreme! He had tried talking Amane out of the skirt and heels but no! She said this would look more convincing. That Mum would be less likely to suspect that they switched places if he wore the miniskirt! The only good news was that he was wearing white leggings and he didn't have to go through the humiliation of shaving his legs.

"This is our stop." Mr. Weasley's voice echoed through Ryou's thoughts, and Ryou quickly hurried after Harry and Mr. Weasley, doing his best not to trip in the heels he was wearing. Looking down at his feet as he walked, he blinked and had to do a double take to make sure he was looking clearly. He was, but he knew that he had _definitely_ not painted his toes. Ryou scowled at the aforementioned appendages and their happy light blue color. Amane was paying big time for this. It wasn't even fair! All she had to do was put on one of his shirts, pair of his paints and a jean jacket and she looked just like him! She didn't have to do all this outrageous stuff!

//Oi! Stop complaining!// Bakura snapped again at Ryou. //If you didn't want this to happen, you should've grown yourself a backbone and told her no!// The link was cut off again as Ryou flinched, and Ryou was pretty sure that Bakura wasn't very happy that Ryou was dressed as a girl.

Ryou sighed as they walked down the streets of London. He just wanted this day over with.

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

Egypt stirred. Something was amiss in her desert, and she wanted to know why. She could feel that something was wrong, something within her very soul, within her chamber of secrets. One of the secrets was stirring- a secret that nobody knew. A secret that though she prided in keeping, she knew would be let out soon. A secret from an unrecorded time, because, after all,

Egypt hid her secrets well.

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

The Wizengamot looked down upon the two teens. One male, one female, both under age and charged with using magic in front of muggles.

"State your full names for the record." Both teens fidgeted a little.

"Harry James Potter," The male said, the scribe- Percy Ignatius Weasley -scribbling it down quickly. The boy hadn't had to say his name as the whole world knew it.

"Amane Melanie Bakura," The female chimed as well, air of confidence starting to settle around her as she flicked a stray hair that had fallen from her braid back behind her. Nerves were calming and the Wizengamot could tell.

Yes, the two accused were two well known by most if not all of the Wizengamot. Harry James Potter was the Boy-Who Lived and Amane Melanie Bakura was none other than the niece of Lucius Malfoy.

"State the schools you go to." The command was sharp, but neither kid flinched. The nerves had completely settled and apparently they knew there was nothing to fear.

"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," Harry James Potter stated as Percival scribbled this down. Again, a given. Dumbledore would only let the Wizarding World's savior within his safe hallowed halls.

"Beauxbatons Magical Institute for Magical Arts." Amane Melanie Bakura stated coolly. Obvious. A handful of the Wizengamot knew that Amane's Uncle would settle for no less than the best with her for her obsession with the arts. Despite Lucius' mild distaste for his younger sister, that didn't travel over to his niece.

The minister then went on to reel off the names of the interrogators and the name of the scribe, all of which the Wizengamot knew and could seriously careless about. What they wanted was for this mundane trial to be over with.

The doors at the end of the court room seemed to slam open and in walked the Headmaster of Harry James Potter's school.

"Witness for the defense," He called out walking down to the center of the court room, "Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore."

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

Harry turned around in his chair, Ryou looking as well, to see Professor Dumbledore striding into the courtroom.

"D-Dumbledore!" Fudge sputtered. "You got the message a-about the time change then?" Dumbledore let out a laugh as he shook his head.

"I must have missed it Minister," Dumbledore informed him. "Lucky, though, it appears that I arrived to the Ministry three hours early." Fudge was twitching, like he hadn't anticipated this. Harry figured that the trial's time had changed just to throw off Dumbledore. Looks like it didn't work.

Harry sat, fidgeting in his seat next to Ryou as the charges were read. Harry slipped a glance over at Ryou. He was sitting stock still, a light smile on his face, staring a head like the words Fudge was saying were going through one ear and out the other.

"And yet, you conjured a Patronus on the second of August (**2**) in front of two muggles?" Fudge was attacking Harry, not letting a word in edgewise from him. However, he was finally able to get a full sentence in when a witch to Fudge's left spoke up.

"You produced a fully fledged Patronus?" The witch asked, and Harry nodded a bit nervously.

"Y-Yeah, we both did," Harry glanced over at Ryou, who was looking more attentive than he had a few minutes ago.

"It had a clearly defined form?" The witch pressed, and Harry nodded.

"It's a stag; always is," Harry told her. The witch looked impressed.

"So you've done it before? That's a high level spell," She told them. "And you? Was yours corporeal as well?" Ryou nodded.

"Yes," Ryou spoke for the third time that hearing, voice chiming high like Amane's sounded. "It's an Egyptian Phoenix." The words were scribbled down by Percy and there were mutters surfed through the Wizengamot. Fudge's angry voice cut through them though, silencing them.

"We're not here because of how impressive it was!" He snarled. "We're here because he- they performed magic in front of muggles!"

"We did it because of the Dementors!" Harry snapped out, stilling everybody. One of the witches on Fudge's other side spoke.

"Nonsense dears," The woman trilled in a higher pitch than either Ryou and Amane, despite her toad like appearance. "Why would there be Dementors in London?" Ryou flicked his hair.

"It's true. What would we have to gain by lying to you?" Ryou looked directly at them all.

"But Dementors in Little Whinging? I'm afraid this doesn't make sense," Madame Bones stated from her seat on Fudge's left.

"Doesn't it Amelia?" Fudge snapped. "They were fooling around with magic and decided to create some false Dementors to cover for their mistake. Why else would the girl have used the Blasting charm before the Patronus?"

"The Dementors were going to take my brothers soul!" Ryou was out of his seat. "You may be heartless, but I'm not! I wouldn't let anything happen to my little brother!" Dumbledore said,

"Sit down Amane," And Ryou huffed and plopped down into the chair in a most un-ladylike fashion. Which Bakura proceeded to annoy Ryou about, causing the light to scowl.

Of course, the adults in the room took it as to being chastised, for the few on the Wizengamot that knew Amane through Lucius knew that Amane was known to have a sour temper at times.

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

After what seemed to be ages the trial finally ended. To both Harry's and Amane's mild shock, Dumbledore actually had witnesses to help Harry and Amane's case. They were Mrs. Figg, their neighbor, and (quite comically) 'Ryou'. Ryou had no doubt that Amane had been thrown in at last second, forcing her to come up with something seeing as neither twin foresaw Ryou being used as a witness.

The three teens tramped out of the courtroom, having Mr. Weasley practically pouncing on them.

"How did it go?" He asked, "Dumbledore just left, but he didn't say a word." Harry cracked a smile.

"Cleared," Harry informed him. "We were cleared of all charges." Mr. Weaseley beamed.

"That's great news!" He told them as they started for the Atrium. The whole trip back to the level that would take them back through muggle London went off without a hitch, Amane and Ryou chattering quietly to each other in a corner of the Atrium, faces shadowed by their hair.

Stepping off the Atrium at their level, everything went smoothly until…

"Well, well, well," It was Lucius Malfoy. "If it isn't _Patronus Potter._" He spoke the name as the insult it was, but the reaction that was given wasn't what had been expected.

"Uncle Lucius?" **(3)** It was one of the twins that gasped that, but for the life of Harry and Mr. Weasley they couldn't tell who. Now that the twins were together, their voices matched exactly the same, despite their different appearances. Lucius turned and looked at the twins as if surveying them.

Both were standing stock still, looking from each other to Lucius to over to Harry and Mr. Weasley. They gave a faltered laugh at the same time, eyes sliding shut and heads tipped towards each other.

"Oops?"

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

_When the last light leaves,_

_Darkness will encompass the land._

_No one will be able to escape the tragedy,_

_Precluded by the blood on Egypt's sand._

_The last light must be protected;_

_If not, then there will be no stopping_

_The Dark Master as he rises once again._

_I.I to M.I_

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

**1- That will be left to your imagination. *Grins***

**2- This was actually scary. I was looking through the fifth HP book for help on the trial, and it freaked me out by saying that Harry actually used the Patronus on August, the same day I said they used it. Creepy huh? XP**

**3- 5 googleplexes for originality!!!! ^__________^ I bet none of you saw that one coming! XP**

Yeah... Ryou and Amane are related to Malfoy... Don't kill meh pwease? I mean, just think of it! Bakura's not even going to _like_ his light's bratty cousin, and Amane- oh, you'll have to wait for her but just you wait! ^_^

In other news; The pairings that have been voted for, last chapters results:

**_MalikxRyou (Angstshipping, if I'm not mistaken) : 2_**

**_BakuraxRyou (Tendershipping) : 1_**

As of this chapter, it stands:

**_Angstshipping: 4 *Smiles*_**

**_Tendershipping: 10 *Jaw drops to the floor*_**

Ohmigosh! Tendershipping came from behind and took over the polls! *Keels over*

Well, both pairings met the requirements, so you know what I'm going to do? Make a love triangle of course! ^_^ Everybody loves a good triangle, especially when all three in said triangle are oblivious to their feelings, and one is completely oblivious! (Three guesses who and the first two don't count.)

I'm also afraid to say that there isn't high hopes for me putting Yugi in this. He'll most definitely be thrown around in conversation a few times, but he won't actually make it to Hogwarts. Malik, on the other hand, *SPOILER* he will be coming to Hogwarts. How? That I will not tell. XP

I've had few inquiries about Yami no Malik, aka Marik. I am afraid to say that as of right now, he will not be making an appearance, but, like Yugi, there is high possibility of him being thrown around in conversation.

I'm also sorry if the trial wasn't up to standards. I really couldn't do much short of copying the whole section in the book, and I didn't want to do that.

However, things will go smoother from now on. Why? Next chapter, unless I meet a hitch (or change my mind for some odd reason) will be Diagon Alley!

Filled with:

Bad puns from Bakura

Admonishing from Ryou

Laughing from Amane

And a whole lot of Panicking from Their Mum! ^_^ Fun, Fun, Fun!

Read and Review, Thank you very much!

~~Paw-Chan Signing Out!~~


	6. A Web Of Lies

Wheeee! I finally updated! ^_^ Bet you're all happy, aren't you? You're all happy as clams now! ^_^ Review replies!

**_Reflective Reviewer 7-_** Oh, I figured you weren't refering to me. I just decided to make it a joke, so I'm sorry if it offended you. And don't worry, the love isn't going to magically appear overnight. If it appears at all (because they were just pairing suggestions) it's going to be gradual. RyouxBakuraxMalik is called Tornshipping, and I am glad you liked the chapter.

**_xDarklightx-_** Glad you like it, and here's the update! ^_^

**_Awesome Power of Pandas-_** I'm glad you liked it, and like I told Reflective, the romance may or may not appear at all. In all honesty, it'll probably just start as the friendship it already is, and like I said at the end of the last chapter, they're going to be oblivious to it. And remember that Amane looks just like Ryou, so if you decide to stick with me, just pretend it's Amane dressing as Ryou if it gets to be too much yaoi (which i highly doubt, seeing as I am bad at yaoi.) And why did Amane and Ryou change places? Mostly because Amane wanted to, as well as to see if they could get away with it. And with Ryou in a dress, it's mainly 'cause I got bored and I know that there are girls out there (with some exceptions) thnat would love to see Ryou dressed as a girl. (Authoress included) Thanks for the review!

**_j bear-_** I'm glad you liked it, and I'm sorry you're upset about there being no Yami no Malik. The reason why they switched places was mostly, like I said before, because they (and when I say they I mean Amane) wanted to. Thanks for the review!

**_Phobias Athena-_** Glad you like it, and here's the update!

**_Bokmal14-_** I'm glad you liked it, and here's the next chapter.

**_digiwriter1392-_** Are they? Hmmm... I guess you'll have to read to find out.

**_YamiIcepath-_** To be honest, the idea came to me from reading another Harry Potter Yu-Gi-Oh crossover called... I think its Shadow of a Phoenix. It said something about Ryou and Bakura's skin being paler than the Malfoy's, and that gave me the idea. And you're right with Malik and Ryou needing more air time; Ryou more so than malik. Ryou was pretty much just shoved aside for Bakura the whole series. I'm glad you liked it, and here's the next chapter!

**_Fates Illusion-_** I'm glad you liked it, and here's the update.

**_deathnoteno1fan-codegeasslover-_** Glad you like it, here's the next chapter!

**_Sunao Kinokiita-tenshi-_** I'm glad you like it and think it's unique. Thanks for your review! ^_^

**_bluey blonde-_** Glad you like it.

**_zack maniac-_** I'm glad you like it, and here's the update.

**_Desecrated Pharaoh-_** I'm glad you like it, and it's alright that you don't want a pairing.

**_meshalok-_** Glad you like it! ^_^

Well, I'm finally back with the sixth chapter of Spider And The Fly! And I'm going to have to say that you than _**Phobias Athena**_ for the update, because without her prodding, I wouldn't have gotten this done today. So, here's the chapter! ^_^

_Oui- Yes (French)_

_Okaa-San- Mother_

**Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, Harry Potter, or the poem The Spider and The Fly**

_The Spider came to his door again and merrily did sing,  
"Come hither, hither, pretty Fly, with the pearl and silver wing!  
"Your robes are green and purple, there's a crest upon your head;  
"Your eyes are like the diamond bright, but mine are dull as lead!"_

**Chapter 6: A Web of Lies**

Harry stared at the twins, his mouth agape; neither of them had mentioned that they were related to Malfoy- _Malfoy_ of all people! Mr. Weasley, however, seemed more accepting of this, Harry couldn't help but notice. Perhaps it was because of the fact that he knew before hand?

"I didn't know…"

"You never…!" To the side, the twins were conversing behind each other's hands, put up in the universal signal of exchanging a conversation that they didn't want anyone else to hear. As it was, the hands also proved an effective method of disguising who was saying what.

"Mind explaining what _you_ are doing with _my_ niece and nephew, Weasley?" Lucius gave Mr. Weasley a steely look.

"Mum asked him to!" The twins chorused quickly, drawing their Uncle's attention. Lucius' mouth curled into a sneer of disapproval.

"Your mother?" The twins quickly nodded, both of them tripping over their tongues in such a flurry to explain that no one could tell who was speaking and who wasn't.

"Mum couldn't take me-"

"Mr. Weasley offered-!"

"She didn't want to seem rude-"

"I would've been late otherwise!"

"It's not-" And the sentences fell into a disarray of which no one could hardly understand what the twins were blathering on about. Lucius raised his hand though, and Ryou and Amane shut up instantly.

"Nonetheless, I'll be taking them back." Lucius informed them. "As it is, they are related to me and not you Weasley." However, before anybody could do anything, a new voice chimed in from behind Lucius.

"Yes, they may be related as it stands, _brother_," The group turned to see, Martha striding up from behind. "However, they are my children; therefore, it is my duty to take care of getting them back home safely. Not yours."

Martha strode up, stopping in front of Lucius. Brown eyes and green met, as if challenging each other. Amane and Ryou flocked to their mothers' side, looking at their Uncle, throwing side glances at their mum and each other. Martha sighed, before stepping away.

"Ryou, Amane, we're leaving." Martha commanded, turning away from her sibling. The twins hesitated a moment, before turning to follow their mum. She paused only to tell Lucius, "We'll continue this later." And they swept off.

//Why do I have this feeling that your mum really hates your uncle?// Bakura asked rhetorically, looking at his hikari.

/Looks like mutual dislike to me,/ Ryou commented back, throwing a look over his shoulder as they stepped onto the Atrium to make their way out of the Ministry.

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

"Diagon Alley?" Ryou asked, sitting on the edge of his bed in the room he shared with Amane at Grimmuald Place. He was back in jeans and a blue and white striped shirt and jean jacket with his hair back down- grateful to be out of that ridiculous outfit that he had been wearing earlier. "What's that?"

"It's where all the wizard shops are," His twin replied, and airy tone in her voice. "At least, in England. There's one in France as well- that's where Beauxbaton's located." Bakura snorted in Ryou's head.

//Lemme guess,// He was snickering, practically rolling on his soul room floor. //It's called _VerticAlly_!// Ryou chose not to comment, and instead inquired,

"So you know how to speak French?" Amane grinned.

"_Oui_," She replied, standing as she put on her other shoe. "The alley's called-" Amane paused, looking at Ryou a bit oddly. He was staring at the door with a peculiar expression on his face, like there was something wrong with it. "-Ryou-nii? Is something wrong?" Ryou shook his head, as if clearing.

"No," He answered. "Just… Thought I heard something, that's all." Amane looked at the door as well, and watched as a barely visible shadow continued past the door.

"So, anyways, where was I?" She asked, looking at her brother.

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

//The Leaky Cauldron?// Bakura is laughing again. //What, were all the good names taken?// Ryou frowned, following Amane and his mum into the pub.

/Quite you,/ Ryou snapped back, feeling a bit self conscious as he adjusted the cloak his mum had made him wear over his street clothes. It made him feel like… Like those people Malik used to rule over. What were they called again?

//Ghouls,(**1**)// Bakura supplied helpfully, ignoring Ryou's miniscule scowl as they made their way through a back door into a crowded little walled off area.

Martha pulled out her wand, and tapped the bricks. Like magic-

//It _is_ magic, if you haven't noticed dear hikari,// Bakura commented sarcastically from his soul room.

/Quiet you,/ Ryou snapped back. He brought up his hand and rubbed his eye a bit angrily. To his sibling and mum, it looked as if he was simply tired, but that wasn't the case.

Ryou felt _off_. Not that he'd tell Bakura or anyone else that, but he felt dreadfully _off_. It was almost as if someone had spent the night sucking all the shadow magic out of him. That wasn't it though; Bakura was still here, and that was proof enough that there was still shadow magic somewhere throughout him, right?(**2**)

"Ryou, are you okay?" Ryou blinked, and reality was flashing back to existence in front of his eyes.

"Yeah, why?" Ryou answered his twin, cheery tone portraying that nothing was wrong, and Amane shook her head.

"You just sort of stopped moving the minute we entered the alley," She gave a small laugh. "I mean, the alley isn't that impressive, is it?" Ryou nodded, eyes a bit wide as he actually took in the scenery of the alley.

The alley was pretty much just a straight shot down towards a big marble building, but there were little turns here and there that gave way to different lines of shops. All in all, Ryou did think it was a bit amazing.

"Come on." Amane giggled, tugging her brothers' arm. "Mum's gone ahead to Gringotts, and she told me to take you to Madame Malkins to get you fitted for robes first; we'll be able to pick them up on our way back." Ryou nodded as his sister lead him down the alley.

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

"Isis!" Malik whined, following his sister down the street. "Why do I have to come to?" Isis sighed, having repeated the answer to the previous question five times in the last hour.

"Because you have to," She said at last. "And I'm not leaving you at home alone." Malik looked forlorn, looking down the street. Well, it was technically an alley, but still. It looked like a street, which was good enough for him.

Looking down the street, Malik had to laugh to himself. It was Diagon Alley, like the direction diagonally. Malik wondered if there were streets called Vertic Alley and Horizont Alley as well.

"C'mon lazy bones!" Malik heard a girls' voice called. "Seeing as mum still isn't back we can go to the Menagerie!" Malik turned towards the voice, eyes widening at what he saw.

It was Ryou; actually, two Ryou's to be exact. If it wasn't for the exception that one was in a skirt, Malik would've thought the spirit was actually back in its own body.

Malik blinked and rubbed his eyes, sure that he was seeing things. He looked back and the two were gone. It made Malik feel a little better, but still uncertain of whether or not he had really seen Ryou or not.

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

"Amane? Ryou?" Martha called through the Menagerie. The twins didn't look back from what had captured their attention as they replied,

"Nani okaa-san?" Martha sighed as she made her way through the store to where the Japanese had sounded from. Mrs. Weasley, who had joined them to do shopping for the other students had already gone her own way, leaving Martha with some quality time with her twins.

Martha came to a dead stop at what her twins were looking at. Ryou had already scooped it out of its cage, cradling it, while Amane was laughing and tickling its stomach.

"Kids." She cleared her throat, and the two looked up at her with matching looks of pleading.

"Please mum?" They whined. "Please?" Martha sighed, looking at the thing.

It was scrappy looking, and Martha was sure that if she looked in the cage behind the twins that it would show that the one that Ryou held was the smallest of the litter. Not only that, but it was different looking than the others. Instead of the usual orange and black striped its kind was, it was half black, half white, with a nose that was a mix of black and pink.

The poor things wings were different as well; one black and leathery, the other white and feathery. The wings matched the color side of its body was on. Martha sighed; she knew her defeat was inevitable. (**3**)

"Why?" Was all she managed.

"Because if we don't," Ryou started, with Amane finishing as she took the animal from her brother.

"The owner is going to have to put her down!" Amane finished, looking at the animal, it batting a paw at her hair.

"I guess I don't have a choice, do I?" Martha said at last. The twins shook their head and answered as one.

"Nope." Martha sighed once more, and waved her hand at the two.

"Go get her a collar and other stuff she'll need." Martha waved them away, and they complied happily, skipping off to pick out a collar and dishes and toys. (Martha made note to grab a leash as well just in case the twins didn't.)

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

"Her name's Nightingale!" Amane declared proudly to Mrs. Weasley as they met up in Flourish and Blotts. Mrs. Weasley gave the twins a faint smile towards their proud ones, and Martha mouthed to her friend,

'_I tried to stop them._'

Mrs. Weasley looked at the forest green collar around Nightingale's neck (Amane wanted pink, Ryou wanted blue, so Martha put her foot down and chose for them) which confirmed that her name was Nightingale, and when lost to please get a hold of either Ryou or Amane Bakura.

"She's, um, very pretty you twin." Mrs. Weasley managed. "Good choice." The twins nodded proudly.

"So Molly, what do you have left to get?" Martha asked Mrs. Weasley, shooing the twins off to look for their books.

"Just these books and Ron's…" Mrs. Weasley's voice died off as the twins went in deeper to the bookstore, searching for the school books.

"What books do we need?" Ryou asked Amane, who shrugged.

"Dunno. Mum has the list." She replied. "We can guess though." Wandering down the aisles, the twins talked, plucking random books off the shelves, looking at them, putting them back.

"What's this?" Ryou asked, pulling a book off the shelf. Amane looked at the cover, scrunching her nose up as she tried to decipher the faded writing on the front of the book.

"The… something Guide To… something and something…" She made out. "Open the book, maybe it has a front page with the title." Ryou shrugged, and went to open the front cover when their mother called out to them. Ryou made to put it back, but Amane's hand stopped him.

"Don't!" She hissed. "Keep it. We can always say that we picked it up by mistake and return it later." Ryou looked at his sister with wide eyes.

"Amane, we just can't take it!" He protested. "It's wrong!" Amane sighed.

"Look, I do realize that," Amane told her brother truthfully. "However, I have this bad feeling. Like if we don't take this now, somebody else will. And something tells me that if we let that happen, major trouble will happen. So please Ryou? At the very least if we have to send it back because we get caught, at least we send it back with an idea of what it is."

Ryou sighed; he knew he had no choice. He gritted his teeth as he slipped the book into his cloak. He could see Amane smile as they made their way back to mum, but this didn't set right with Ryou.

Amane was acting funny; she wasn't acting like the Amane he remembered. Oh well, he was probably imagining things. Besides, she was right about the book. Ryou felt like something bad would happen if they didn't take the book with them.

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

"There you are, you two," Martha looked at the twins. "We're going to need to go soon. I got your books." Martha never noticed the looks that the twins gave each other. "Do we have everything before we go to get Ryou's wand?" Amane shrugged.

"I think," She answered. "We probably just need his robes, but that's all I can think of besides his wand." Martha nodded.

"We're picking them up on our way out," She reminded her daughter. Amane nodded, and all Ryou could do was follow his sister and mother as they led him down to get his wand.

Ollivanders was what the place was called, and apparently it had been open for an extremely long time. Ryou asked his mum if the wand place was a family operated business, but he got no answer as he was ushered inside.

"Mr. Bakura," A voice from the corner of the room echoed, causing Ryou to jump and Amane to snicker. "I've been expecting you." Ryou backed away, wanting nothing but to run away from the man, but Martha put a hand on her sons' shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile.

"Hello Ollivander," Martha smiled warmly at the old man. "Son's in for a wand. First one." Ryou didn't like the way the old man's eyes lit up as he snapped his fingers and got to work.

At first Ryou didn't know why Ollivander snapped his fingers, but it became apparent when the measuring tape on the desk in front of the shelves in the shop picked themselves up and started measuring basically everywhere on his body while Ollivande pattered off to a dark corner of the room, calling back,

"Which is your wand arm, Mr. Bakura?" Ryou blinked in confusion before Amane called out for him,

"He writes with his right hand," His sister winked at him. "I came to Ollivander for my wand to. Don't worry. He may seem crazy," she emphasized this statement with a twirling of her pointer finger by her temple, "but he makes great wands."

"Aha!" Ollivander's voice called out from somewhere behind all the shelves. He came scuttling back quickly, holding a box. Ollivander uncapped the box revealing an almost all-white wand with a black handle. Amane's eyes flickered with disbelief.

"Eleven and three quarter inches," Ollivander recited, "Made of heartwood and core of a chimaeras' feather." He glanced knowingly towards the twins' scrappy looking pet. Nightingale yawned, fangs baring towards the old man as she glared lazily at him as she curled up for a nap, wings folding down.

"What am I supposed to do?" Ryou asked Ollivander. Amane had given him a crash course on wands- the wand chooses the wizard (very much so like the Millennium Items, Ryou noted) and that you would know if the wand picked you.

"Just pick it up and give it a wave," Ollivander informed him, eyes twinkling. Ryou nodded, and hesitantly reached out and picked up the wand.

Warmth started to spread through his fingertips as he gave the wand a hesitant flick. A light pink gas flew out of the wand, forming a shape that caused Amane to stifle a gasp that went unnoticed by the others.

_There is only one sister wand to this, I was told. Now I did not make your wand, nor its sister. I was told that the two wands went together as a pair. However, neither the cores nor the wood are the same. Sure, same tree and creature, but different ones and two completely different appearances. I am still stumped as to why they are sisters. I just know that they are. But, I expect a bright young student like you to know why, sometime in the future, and may whoever receives its sister be of help to you when you need help._

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

"Want to see what's in that book now?" Ryou whispered to Amane that night at supper. Well… It wasn't supper as more as it was a party celebrating the fact that Ron (the youngest Weasley son, Ryou was told) and Hermione Granger (Ron's and Harry's friend, apparently) were made prefects of their house at Hogwarts.

Ryou was still itching over the events at Diagon Alley- mainly his thieving the book and that weird reaction with his wand. However, as of right now the wand thing wasn't important right now. Only the book, seeing as Amane had been so anxious for him to take it.

"Huh?" Amane asked, blinking, like she was trying to remember something. "Oh, yeah, yeah! Let's go now. Everyone is preoccupied." Ryou nodded, not noticing that she seemed to have forgotten about the book, and the two slipped out of the room towards the upstairs.

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

Malik looked out his window of the room of the inn that he and Isis were staying at until start of term. There was something unsettling going on. He may not know much about this new world he had been so eloquently thrown into, but he knew things from the Millennium Items. And that knowledge was telling him that there was a storm rising, and a big one at that.

And something told him that Yami Yugi- Pharaoh Atem -wouldn't be around to help them this time. But the one thing that Malik knew for sure, was that they'd need all seven Millennium Items. However, something else told him that they'd be the cause of the problem, not the solution. That something else would bring them to a conclusion.

But what? What could it possibly be?

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

_I feel like there's something wrong with me. I feel sluggish. Like somebody's controlling me. But how? I haven't had any real contact with wizards since the trial. And I know for a fact I wasn't hit with a spell then. But how come I feel like this? _

_And there's something else. Like there's another presence in my mind. It's a bit unnerving. It's not malevolent, like one would expect though. It's more like… warning me. Of future events. Of side changes. Choices that must be made. _

_Someone's Change of Heart._

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

**1- In the English version, they call Malik's followers the Rare Hunters. Needless to say, Japanese version has better names for things.**

**2- Something's wrong with Ryou, but what? Can you guess what's wrong with him? And before you say it, no it is not the new magic. Guess again.**

**3- Can you guess what this animal is? Bet you can't! XP**

So, that's the end of Chapter 6! I hope you like it! And, with the pairings, here's where we're at (Because I never officially shut it down.)

_**Tendershipping- 10**_

**_Angstshipping- 4_**

**_Tornshipping(The three together)- 2_**

**_YugixHarry(IF Yugi appears)- 1_**

**_AmanexMalik- 1_**

**_No pairing- 1_**

So, that's where the pairings stand. If you'd like to vote on one if you haven't already, you may do so. Otherwise, I'll throw the poll so I can get who I want as couples... (Yes, I realize you may think I lied last chapter about contents and pairings, but ideas are ever changing as are pairings and couples... kukukuku...)

So, I hope you liked Chapter 6, so now read, review, and tell me what you thought of Chapter 6.

~~Paw-Chan Signing Out~~


	7. Lost In The Spider's Clutches

Hello my pretties! ^_^ Did you miss me? I didn't really miss you, to be honest... ^_^ But that's alright because we all know that I have 20 some other stories to be working on and I can't miss you all at once! (Don't worry, between here and the next next few updates I'll be missing you.)

**_sakurademonalchemist-_** Glad you like the idea of that pairing. I thought it'd be cute, that's why I suggested it. That way, there could be some 'accidental' moments of RyouxMalik if that pairing was chosen, seeing as AMane and Ryou are pretty much identical twins, except in the... um... gender department. ^_^

**_Phobias Athena- _**I'm glad you're happy about the update and the chapter. I hope you like this chapter too.

**_xDarklightx-_** A Chimaera is your guess? Well, maybe... Kukukukuku... I guess you'll just have to find out in the next chapter or so... XD An animal Change of Heart? Never thought of that... Or did I?... Glad you liked the chapter.

**_DesecratedPharaoh-_** You're right, you can never win against Ryou or Amane, especially with Bakura. ^_^ I'm glad you like the idea of AmanexMalik as well... Thanks for the review!

**_embermoto-_** I'm glad you like it, and the pairings are actually going to be released at the end of this chapter- I've finally decided on them. I may or may not have been swayed by the readers, but then again, you'll just have to find out, now won't you? Thank's for the review!

**_Kazukimi-_** Malik? Whoever said anything about Malik being in the School? *Blinks owlishly* Whoever said he was going to be attending? ^_^ The cousins shall meet!... Hey! I'm not telling you that! XP You just have to wait and see! Thanks for the review, though.

**_meshalok- _**Alright... But are you sure a pairing has nothing to do with the plotline? *Smiles innocently*

**_RamaChanChan-_** Alright, I'll keep that in mind. I'm glad you like Ryou- your the first person who hasn't mentioned Amane, but then again, who wouldn't? Most stories keep her dead. ^_^ I'm glad you're enjoying it though, and I'll try and do better at proofreading. Sometimes my computer will add an extra when I'm not looking. Thanks for the review!

**_RedSnowFalls-_** Alright, and I'm glad you're liking it.

**_youko-love-_** I'm glad you like it so much. I have a pretty good idea on house(s) for the Twins, but I do enjoy a good second opinion. Like with the pairings. Thanks for taking the time out of your day to read the story.

**_Raffeytha-_** Amane? Seeming off? Knows too much? Maybe, but then again, we never know, do we? Even the authors. The characters just tend to... run off, don't they? *Laughs* Maybe you're right. Maybe you're wrong. But I'm not going to ruin it for you! There is always a point to Chaos, no matter how Chaotic it seems.

**_misswarchan-_** I'll be honest. I think I really noticed your review right now, as I am typing this, and when I saw it my brain shut off. Why? Because of the one pairing you put in there and how just a few mere hours earlier I accidentally implimented it in. Coincidence? XP Glad you like it.

**_theNewDesire-_** Glad you like it! Thanks for the review~!

**_KitsunePan-_** Okay, and glad you liked it! Thanks for reviewing! ^_^

**_Misting Rain-_** Yeah, I'm looking forward to typing it as well. Malfoy... He seems like a bit of a tricky character to capture, especially as I have to work in childhood experiences with him and the twins... Glad you liked it though! ^_^

**_Nebelkind-_** Don't we all wonder what's wrong with Ryou? I mean, besides me of course. Why wouldn't I know? Nightingale, a Shadow Monster? Maybe... Thanks for reviewing!

**_Main Character TormentorLover-_** Yeah, it does seem odd without Yugi, but, to be honest, he doesn't really have a place... But, he will be in the story later on. Maybe not as a part of the school, but part of something else. I'm glad you like it, and don't worry, Harry will have more of a place in later chapters hopefully. It's just that right now all Harry is in the beginning is kinda angsty, so I want to get him to school where he can cheer up in attitude a bit. 'Kay? Thanks for the review.

Have I ever told you guys I love? I haven't? I guess after the 'not missing you' comment you feel unloved. Well, I do love you after the amount of reviews I got this past chapter._ Seventeen _freaking reviews! That's honestly a new record for me.

Thanks for the reviews, and I love you guys as much as you love me for this update! Read the Chappie, kay-kay?

**Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or Harry Potter.**

_Alas, alas, how very soon the silly little Fly,  
Hearing his silly, wily, flattering words, came slowly flitting by.  
With buzzing wings, she hung aloft, then near and nearer drew,  
Think only of her crested head, her green and purple hue,  
Think only of her brilliant eyes- poor foolish thing at last!  
Up jumped the cunning Spider and fiercely held her fast.  
He dragged her up his winding stair, up to his dismal den,  
Within his little parlor- she was ne'er seen again._

**Chapter 7: Lost In The Spider's Clutches**

It was about an hour after Amane and Ryou left that Harry and company noticed that the twins had disappeared. Which actually seemed surprising; with hair like theirs, plus their attitudes, you'd probably think that it would be hard to miss at least _one_ of them. But despite that fact, the party was slowly ending; their mum and the other adults probably just assumed they went to bed.

However, that didn't really explain just why Harry, Ron, and Hermione were going up to talk to the twins. Maybe it was because they wanted to get to know them a little better? Maybe it was just because they didn't trust them- Harry had told Ron and Hermione about the twins being related to Malfoy.

"I say you go in first, mate," Ron whispered to Harry. They were standing outside the door to the room that the twins were in; they could faintly hear their voices drifting out through the cracked door, like wind from an open window.

Harry merely rolled his eyes, and knocked on the door twice before pushing it open. The three stepped into the room, and the twins jumped, Ryou- or at least, they thought it was Ryou -sweeping up something, and trying to hide it. Which wasn't working too well.

"Hey, what do you got there?" Ron asked, and the twins looked at each other, like they were thankful that Harry, Ron, and Hermione weren't someone else. They gave a faint laugh, and looked imploringly at the three.

"Just don't tell our mom, okay?" Ryou asked. "She hates these things."

"Hates what?" Hermione asked, stepping into the bedroom with Harry and Ron. She watched as Ryou shot Amane a look, who in return just shrugged, causing Ryou to sigh. It was almost as if the two had their own little conversation going on.

"Tarot Cards."Amane answered as Ryou sighed, pulling out the deck of said cards. He picked up the deck and started realigning the deck so that there were no odd corners of the cards sticking out. "Mum doesn't believe in this sort of stuff." Ryou finished straightening the deck, and started what Harry assumed was a nervous shuffle of the cards.

"Well," Harry gave a weak sort of laugh. "Neither does Hermione." Ryou shrugged, the nervous shuffling stopping, turning towards the three with an odd sort of grin on his face; it was sort of feral, as if it was n longer Ryou they were talking to, but someone else entirely different.

"Who can blame you?" Ryou inquired, sliding the deck over to Amane, who picked it up automatically and started shuffling. "After the Divination teacher you've had?" Harry nodded, noticing that Ryou didn't address Hermione, but all three of them. He stopped in a flash, confusion appearing on his face.

"Wait," He stopped, and Amane looked over, her shuffling ceasing. "I thought you'd never been to a Magic School before? How would you know that?" The twins laughed.

"What Mum hates is the Occult," Amane clarified. "Divination is the proper name for Fortune-Telling. Ryou's been doing it for a while now." Ryou nodded in agreement, turning away from Harry, and to his sister, almost as if whatever had possessed him and made him look at Harry had released him from its grip.

"The cards," He nodded towards the deck in his sister's hands. "They told me about your bad experiences with your Divination teacher."

"Ryou's really good at the Tarot though," Amane chimed in. "He can use even regular playing cards for it. Hmmm…" Amane paused, then tacked on, "Maybe he could do it with Exploding Snap cards…" She shook her head laughing.

"Never mind that last thing," Amane laughed. "So, what is it you three wanted?" She slid the cards back to Ryou, who paused, then scooped them up and returned them to a case. Amane pouted and glared at her brother, but he just shrugged and shook his head.

"Oh, fine otouto!" She growled, though her tone of voice indicated that she really didn't mind all that much. "But, anyways, like I asked before, what do you guys want?"

"Unless you want us to have a guess at it," Ryou suggested, eyes a little darker than his sisters. It was almost as if they were reflecting red, like some kids' eyes in muggle pictures. He had taken out the Tarot Cards again, and was shuffling once more, but it wasn't a nervous shuffle.

Amane feigned a hurt look at her brother, but looked at their friends expectantly. Her eyes were glittering brightly, like she couldn't wait for her brother to show off that he actually had talent for this sort of thing.

Harry sighed. Disappointment wouldn't do, especially when Amane looked so excited, now would it? He'd hate to make Amane upset…

"Alright," Harry sighed. "Why don't you have a guess at it?" Amane giggled, scooting over and patting the spot next to her, while Ryou regarded Harry with dark eyes.

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

"Isis, do I really have to go?" Malik whined as he stood on a stool, arms out as he his measurements were taken.

"Yes, you do." Isis replied firmly. The girl taking his measurements giggled softly, before swiftly retreating to the back with the measurements at Malik's sour look.

"But-!" Malik's protest died on his lips as Isis glared at him. The message was clear; the topic was no longer open for discussion. Malik sighed and pouted, but he wasn't about to further his sister's temper and incur her wrath.

"So…" He drawled instead. "We're going to a Magic School?" He crinkled his nose at the thought**.(1)** He had thought that only Shadow Magic had existed; but surprises came aplenty when you were one of the Guardians of the Pharaoh's Tomb and the Millennium Items.

His mind wandered to the Millennium Rod, which was looped through one of his belt loops on his pants. It had been barely two months ago since an excavation team had almost discovered the resting place of the Millennium Items… The Tomb Keepers had to sneak in after dark, when the crew was gone and take the items so they wouldn't be discovered.

Malik had reclaimed the Rod for 'protection' purposes- his excuse being that it would be harder to take them all if they were separated. Isis refused to take the Necklace back; Shadi appeared mysteriously sometime after they reclaimed the items and took the Scales and the Key. The Puzzle had been delivered by Malik, Isis, and Rishid to Yugi in Japan; it was too risky for air delivery. The Eye remained with the Tomb Keepers. And the Millennium Ring? What happened to that?

They didn't know. It just vanished abruptly. Not 'Shadi came and took it without telling' vanishing, but the vanishing as in _vanishing_ as in no one knew where it disappeared off to. In fact, when they had gone to retrieve the items, it had already been gone. That's why after he and Isis had delivered Yugi the puzzle he had called Ryou. He knew that the Ring spirit had a bad tendency of coming back after being banished, and he just wanted to make sure that Ryou was alright and that the Spirit hadn't come back.

And imagine Malik's surprise when he found out that Ryou wasn't in Japan, but England?

"_Visiting family,_" Had been what Ryou had told him. Apparently Ryou hadn't waited for the Ring to find its way back somehow before taking advantage of his freedom. That is, of course, if Ryou really had the Ring.

Isis never responded to Malik, but he didn't really care. He wasn't expecting one, to be honest- anything to break the silence until they were allowed back onto the bustling streets of Diagon Alley.

At the thought of the streets' name, Malik gave a smile. He wondered if there was a Horizont Alley, or Vertic Alley. The fact that there was a Knocturn Alley already sent him close to hysterics.

The young girl who had been taking his measurements returned, telling them that they could leave, and Malik gratefully jumped off the stool. He was getting bored. Maybe he could slip away from Isis and…?

"Don't even think about it," Isis's tone was a warning, and Malik flinched instinctively. Despite the fact that she didn't have the Necklace anymore, she was still scary good at foreseeing things.

Malik laughed and shook his head, playing innocent. Some things just never change.

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

A figure in the shadows stood just behind the kitchen door of the Noble House of Black, eavesdropping in on a conversation occurring by the senior members of the house just inside the doors, having started a little after the last of the kids had been sent to bed. **(2)**

"Hmm…? What are these?" Molly asked, and the sound of something being picked up was created. The sound of footsteps shuffling across the kitchen floor followed, and the next one to speak was the twins' mother.

"Those?" Martha said, taking the cards. "They're Ryou's; when he was younger he was into all the latest games- his favorite had been Monster World. I assume that they are part of whatever game he's into right now.(**3**)" There's the sound of someone flicking through the cards, and another voice joins into the open conversation.

"They remind me of some of the drawings in a tomb we excavated a few months ago in Egypt," Bill said, looking at the cards. Other voices clamored into the conversation at this point; some recalled news of the excavation.

"I thought you guys didn't find anything on that excavation?" Tonks asked, and Bill nodded.

"We didn't," Bill agreed. "But it did seem strange." The figure outside the kitchen smirked; it was feral, showing pointed canines that seemed to glint in the light.

"Strange?" Sirius asked, leaning back in his chair. "How?"

"Well," There was the sound of a chair scraping across the floor. "We could tell there was something definitely down there. Unfortunately, before we could break the surface, we had to head in- there was a storm coming. Not a sand storm, but serious enough that we had to go under cover until it passed. When it was done, it was night and it would've been too dangerous for us to get any work done."

"Yeah?" Sirius said, the chair legs dropping heavily onto the floor. There were 'tch's' made- probably the women -but no one said anything because it was technically Sirius's house.

"Well, the next morning when we went to the site," Bill told them. "The surface had already been broken by something, and there was nothing down there. Just a lot of drawings on the walls that look like those cards." He indicated towards the cards that Molly held in her hands.

The figure gave a dark laugh, one that floated into the room, before leaning back into the wall and passing through it to the shadows on it.

The, "Kukuku" floated through the open door, making the hair on the members of the Order present necks stand up.

Remus was the one to check it out, and to their surprise, no one was there. Martha sighed and accepted the cards, volunteering to go up and check to make sure the kids were still in their rooms and to return Ryou's cards.

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

_I don't know what's wrong with me. I've been feeling sick, but I haven't told anyone. I feel awful all the time, like there's something wrong with my magic. Yet, as far as I know, there's nothing wrong._

_I don't know what to do. I know I should tell someone, but I can't. Not with this agony. I don't want someone to lie to me and tell me it will all be better when it won't. I just want it to go away, which I know there's a good chance- a real good chance -that it won't go away._

_And I truly don't know what to do. Yet I do know that if I don't do something, something really bad will happen. What, I don't know. All I know is that something bad will happen._

_And I don't want that to happen._

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

**1- Sorry, but isn't that so kawaii? *Tackles Malik* He's so kawaii!**

**2- Guesses as to that is? Probably not who you think it is.**

**3- Seeing as Ryou's been away from his mum and Amane, his Mum doesn't really know what he's into. She hasn't even heard of Battle City... yet... So she just uses Monster World as a comparison, and assumes that the deck is the new game he's into.**

So, how was the Chapter? There was a little cameo of Bakura, and a whole scene with Malik! ^_^ And the Millennium Items are back! (No surprises there.) Will Malik find out Ryou has the Ring? Not for a while yet. When will they meet up? Soon, my pretties. ;-)

Pairing Announcements!:

So I've thought about this long and hard, and thought about Plot Developments. And, in order to make scenes and ideas work, and for some humor purposes, I have decided on these pairings:

MalikxAmane

HarryxAmane (kind of a side dish)

HarryxGinny

MalikxRyou (accidental, but all the more funny! ^_^)

HarryxRyou (Again, accidental, but that's what humor is for, isn't it?)

I know, I know, you're probably upset that there's not more yaoi in it, but then again there are people who don't want pairings or yaoi. So, please, deal with it? For me? There'll be a super special kiss for someone at a certain birthday party! *Wiggles Eyebrows*

And for those who don't want pairings- I'll remind you this. They won't go and start right away. It will be little things, like a staring problem, or blushes and giggles when talking.

Oh, and I have a good idea for house(s) for the twins, but why don't you check out the pole on my profile and give me your opinion? You have two weeks starting Monday. (I'm babysitting full time starting Monday and will have little time to work on chapters. Mi hermana is on her way to Europe right now and while she is gone I have to babysit the two girls she had been babysitting. It's not bad- I'll be getting 100 dollars a week; 20 a day.)

Read, review, pout, do whatever pleases you my pretties! (Kukukuku...)

~~Paw-Chan Signing Out~~


	8. Where The Frog Ensnares Spider And Fly

Finally, an update! ^_^ This is the longest chapter yet, and part of that is because I wanted them in Hogwarts and sorted, and part of the lengthiness is from me realizing loose ends that needed to be tied up before heading to Hogwarts, as well as meeting a certain character... *wink wink nudge nudge* Review Replies! ^_^

**_Escapedslave99-_** I'm glad you feel that way. ^_^

**_Misting Rain-_** Yeah, I guess I did skip that... Don't worry, that's one of the ends that had to be tied up. ;-) You did a great job of reminding me of that, though, so thanks. Glad you liked it.

**_Phobias Athena-_** Glad you liked it. ^_^

**_Bokmal14-_** It was something else. What, I'm not telling you yet, but it was something else. What Ryou saw is this chapter. Thanks for the review.

**_xDarklightx-_** Glad you liked it, and here's the chapter. ^_^

**_DesecratedPharaoh-_** Well, Yugi isn't staying out the whole time... He's going to pop up once, over break, but that's because of...*muted*...Nightingale? Holy Crap, I forgot... Next Chapter, maybe? ~.~ Thanks for the review~!

**_sakurademonalchemist-_** I'm glad you like it. Thanks for taking time to review.

**_Nebelkind-_** Who's been feeling sick?... Hmm... How do you know it's just one person, and it's not Harry? The Order is actually quite oblivious... *Laughs evilly* Kukuku... You'll just have to wait and see like the rest of them. Thanks for reviewing though!

**_.adagio-_** Thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you liked it. And I had seriously considered Tendershipping, but as I thought of how the story was going to go, I figured it wouldn't work... Sorry... Though I'm glad that you understand why I didn't pick it! ^_^

**_StargateNerd-_**Glad you like my story, and thanks for taking the time out of your day to review.

**_Duistere- _**Yeah, I agree with that. A lot of the time in my stories though a pairing is inevitable... (In my first story I had no intention of a pairing and all of a sudden people were asking me if two of the characters were going to hook up or not.) Glad you liked the chapter, and here's your alert! XP

**_tamiki-kun- _**Maybe... Thanks for the review~!

**_AleCat1230-_** Thanks~!

Thank you for all the reviews, I love you all, I really do! ^_^ Another reason why it was such a late update is because I have discovered the wonders of DN Angel! ^_^ I found a Yu-Gi-Oh Xover of it, decided to watch the anime, and got hooked. Sorry... (Dai-Chan's just soo kawaii~!) And because of it, I have another In-Progress story~! T.T (It's called _Ice and Snow_ (it's a DN Angel Harry Potter Xover))

Anyways~! The story, if you will~!

_/Bakura to Ryou/Ryou to Bakura/_

_Boku no namae wa...- My name is..._

_Onegai- Please_

_Aneue- Big Sister_

_Iki- Spirit_

_Ne- Alright/Okay_

**Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, Harry Potter, or the poem _Spider And The Fly _by Mary Howitt**

_And now dear children, to whom this story may read,  
To silly, idle, flattering words, I pray you ne'er give heed.  
Unto an evil counselor, close to heart and ear and eye,  
And take a lesson, from this tale, of the Spider and The Fly._

**Chapter 8: Where The Frog Ensnares The Fly And The Spider**

Harry sat on his bed in the room he shared with Ron, mind reeling from what had been told to him earlier. Common sense told him to scrap what Ryou had told him and throw it off as a hoax, a lucky guess, but he couldn't. Not when it was so mind-boggling accurate.

He didn't remember the names or the pictures of the cards that had been picked for him, just their descriptions.

_**~ "Your past Harry," Ryou looked at him with an unwavering look. "Has been harsh. You've faced many trials, some of which you are still dealing with." Ryou didn't hesitate in flipping the middle card of the cross like Tarot spread (1).**_

"_**Present?" Ryou asked, tilting his head to the side curiously, never blinking as he continued to stare at Harry. "You've been lied to Harry. You feel betrayed by your friends and the people close to you because you were left out of the loop. It's this reason why you don't trust us. The lies you've been given make it hard for you to trust those who you don't know all that well."**_

_**Harry blinked and gave a small shudder as he looked up at Ryou, noting his feral grin. It was creepy, and it didn't seem to belong on the otherwise innocent looking boys' face.**_

"_**Your future?" Ryou went to flip over the card, but there was a sharp knock on the door. They jumped, but Ryou didn't sweep up all the cards.**_

_**In peeked Mrs. Weasley's head, informing them that it was bed time and that they had to go to their own rooms.**_

_**The twins gave Mrs. Weasley an innocent look, effectively disarming her as they took the blame. She hesitated a little, but unfortunately their charm wasn't enough and Mrs. Weasley told them once more firmly that they had to go to bed.**_

_**Ryou shook his head, blinking as if coming out of a daze. He stared at the Tarot placement as if he forgot what he had just been doing. There was a brief moment pause, before Ryou looked up with an odd smile on his face, looking at the group, his hand still on the last card.**_

"_**Your future," Ryou repeated once more, a little lower as so Mrs. Weasley wouldn't yell at them. "In your future you will hold a decision for a loved one." Harry looked at Ryou, wondering what it could be, and his next words shook his core.**_

"_**A life or death decision." And before Harry could react, there was a sharp rap at the door, signaling that it was time to go to bed, **_**now**_**.~**_

Ryou's reading had been freakily accurate, and if anything, it had actually scared Harry a little bit. Who could know that there was someone who was actually legit about Divination and not a hack like Trelawney was half the time?

But still… The last part of the reading… The fact that he would be in charge of a life or death decision over a loved one… What did that mean? The only ones that he really cared about were his friends, Sirius, and Remus, as well as the Weasleys'…

Did that mean something was going to happen to them?

Harry hoped not.

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

Ryou sat, curled in a ball, on his bed in the room that he shared with Amane in the Noble House of Black (**2**). Amane had long since fallen asleep, but Ryou found that he couldn't. He had a migraine throbbing at the back of his head, and the last part of the reading he had done for Harry was still whirling through his head, keeping him from sleep.

'_You will face a life or death decision concerning a loved one._' Ryou gave a small sigh. He didn't know why he was over thinking Harry's reading and practically psycho-analyzing it. It didn't concern him, right?

'_But, then again…_' Maybe he was being paranoid, maybe it was that sense of brother protectiveness, but he had seen Harry looking at his sister. Like he said before, he was probably over thinking things, but he had a feeling that Harry liked his sister. And not in the 'friend' sense of the word.

Ryou sighed a second time, and leant back, accidentally knocking his head against the wall. He clapped his hands over his mouth to muffle his yelp, wincing as the throbbing from his migraine seemed to double.

There was a snort from the back of his mind, and the soft snoring that had signaled to Ryou that his yami had been asleep stopped. Bakura had probably been jerked awake when Ryou's head had hit against the wall.

/_Yandounishi?_/ Bakura's voice floated through the link, a bit sleepy, but awake as well. /_What are you doing still awake?_/ Ryou shook his head while Bakura appeared in spirit form on the bed next to his hikari.

/_It's nothing Yami (__**3**__),_/ Ryou sent through to Bakura, wrapping his arms tighter around his legs. His migraine was throbbing harder now, and it brought tears to his eyes because this was the primary reason why he couldn't get to sleep! /_You can go back to sleep._/

Bakura eyed Ryou, sitting in front of his hikari, a transparent leg hanging off the edge of Ryou's bed. He could tell there was something off about Ryou, even if he couldn't tell- yet. Looking at Ryou, Bakura's eyes darted over the light quickly, trying to figure out if there was anything wrong to prove that it wasn't just 'nothing'.

Ryou was curled in on himself, and Bakura could see tears watering in the edges of his eyes. And by the way that his hikari was refusing to look at him, Bakura could easily tell that he was lying.

"Don't lie." Bakura was wide awake now, and his tone of voice made Ryou wince a little. He kept his head down. "Look at me." The order was sharp, and Ryou looked up, knowing he had no choice. He gave Bakura a faint smile, ignoring the thought niggling in the back of his head.

'_This is how he acted when he was still connected to Zorc._' Ryou gave his head a small shake. Zorc was gone. The Pharaoh had taken care of him. The only reason that Yami was back was the fact that he was more tenacious than a cockroach and he always came back.

/_What is it Yami?_/ Ryou asked instead, a smile falling easily onto his face through the pain throbbing at the back of his head. He could easily portray innocence as well as acting oblivious to a situation- something he had done many a time with Yugi-tachi.

"What's wrong?" Bakura demanded, causing Ryou's eyes to widen in shock. He recovered quickly, but it wasn't quick enough, as Bakura saw.

/_N-Nothing Yami._/ Ryou answered, migraine now throbbing to an unheard melody that one would associate with a bad guy.

"Don't lie to me yandounishi," Bakura growled, reaching out a hand to Ryou, determined to find out what his host's problem was, whether he was willing to give up the information or not. However, Ryou had an unseen savior.

The door opened, and Bakura vanished back into the Ring. He didn't know whether mortals other than Ryou could see him, and he knew that this was a situation that he didn't want to find out that information in.

It was their mother- the twins'. Martha's eyes scanned the room, like she was trying to determine if the proper children were in the room and asleep. Well, it was almost right.

Martha's eyes caught sight of her youngest (**4**) still awake, and she made her way over to Ryou. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she voiced the same question that Bakura had been pestering Ryou with, more or less.

"What's wrong?" Her voice was soft and quiet- Amane was asleep nearby and they didn't want to wake her. Ryou shook his head softly, trying to will his migraine away, not wanting to tell neither his mother nor his yami about it.

"It's nothing," Ryou's voice was barely a whisper, more tears popping into his eyes against his will. "I… I just can't get to sleep, that's all." It wasn't a full out lie. It was partly true- he couldn't get to sleep. His head was too full of too many thoughts to allow him to sleep properly.

"I'll be fine," Ryou assured his mother at her worried look. Bakura snorted at the back of his mind, and Ryou ignored him. Ryou gave his mother a small smile, and she relented, leaving her son be.

"You've been thinking about that boys' reading." It wasn't a question, nor was it meant to be. Bakura had figured it out, peering into his hosts' thoughts a bit.

/_So?_/ Ryou asked, face a bit guilty, as he looked away once more. /_Am I not allowed to think now?_/ Bakura shook his head, mentally smacking himself. He was just over thinking a stupid reading? A reading that may or may not concern his sister? Bakura shook his head, reaching a hand out to Ryou's consciousness.

/_You worry too much yandounishi,_/ Bakura answered, his hand pressing down on Ryou's consciousness. /_Sleep._/

Ryou shook his head, trying to fend off Bakura's hand, but it was no use. Bakura had done this sort of trick too many times, and Ryou was as vulnerable as ever to it. The last thing Bakura got out of his host before he settled down to return to his sleep was a small,

/_That's not fair…_/

Bakura gave a quiet snort as he shook his head and drifted back to his own sleep. He was the King of Thieves- he never played fair.

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

The days flew by, and before anybody knew, it was the night before the train bound for Hogwarts was to leave. Most of the kids were rushing to pack everything as well as locating wayward items. The twins were lucky enough that they didn't have their items strewn all over the house, like the others, but they did have a hard enough time finding their stuff in their room.

"That's my cloak."

"No yours is over there." A vague wave of the hand.

"That's yours!" The protest fell.

"Does it really matter? We're the same size!" A sigh, a shake of a head, and a cloak is retrieved and then packed away. Twenty minutes later the twins are going over lists aloud to try and jolt each other's memories on what they may have forgotten.

"Uniform?" Ryou's voice echoed from the bed, where he was laying. His migraine was back- not as bad as it had been before, but it was enough to let him know that it was there.

"Got it," Amane replied from her position against the wall sitting on her bed. "Umm… You have your Tarot cards?" It was hard thinking of something that her brother would forget- that was because he wouldn't. Saying Ryou forgot something was like saying Harry wasn't the Boy-Who-Lived- it was a lie.

A snort was her answer.

"Amane, they pretty much lived in my trunk," Ryou responded. "Mum hates them, remember?" Amane snorted- then what else was there to check off for her brother? He never forgot anything. Ever.

"Well, I'm done then," She gave. "You win. I give up, Sir I-Never-Forget-Anything. This round's hat is off to you." Ryou blinked, and the same thought echoed from both him and Bakura.

/_**It was a game?**_/

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

The morning was bright, the birds were chirping, the house was as dreary as ever, and Martha was sent into panic mode. Why? Two certain kids were missing from attendance in the house.

More precisely, her kids.

They had evidently snuck out sometime during the night or early morning, but Martha couldn't figure out for the life of her why her children left so early. And without an adult present no less! It was dangerous out there!

"Hey Mum!" George (or was it Fred? Martha wondered) called from the top of the staircase.

"Look what we," Fred (or perhaps it was George?) continued.

"Found in their room!" The other finished, presenting a note to their mum and Martha. Martha took it up, scanning the kanji that the note had been written in, mocking or not.

_Hey Okaa-Chan!_

The note read, Martha noting that it could be either of her kids who wrote the note.

_So, by now, you probably realize that we have snuck out, right?_

They really weren't making this easy for Martha to find out which of them actually snuck out, now were they?

_Well, don't be mad, onegai? There was a call on the cellie and we had to go! A friend of theirs is leaving for school at the same time we are and we had to go to say goodbye! Well… I tagged along._

Of course. Martha knew it now. There was only one of her children who called a cell phone a 'cellie'.

_But! Anyways, I have our trunks (don't ask) and we will meet you at King's Cross on the platform at eleven! If we don't meet you then… Well, you can start panicking for real, I guess._

_Love ya!_

_~Your Children_

_(Who are totally not trying to suck up for sneaking out and worrying their mother?)_

Martha sighed, and read the letter aloud to the others present in the entrance hall to the house, knowing full well that no one there was as fluent as she was in Japanese, as well as the way her children wrote it.

Needless to say, most of the adults (and the other children) didn't seem too happy about it.

"Well," Sirius laughed at long last. "Kids will be kids. And, remembering you growing up, I'm surprised that one of them hadn't run off sooner." Sirius's laugh was the only one echoing through his house, and he quickly shut up, while mutterings flew under Martha's breath about how much trouble her kids were in.

It was only then that Martha realized a small implication in Sirius's words that wouldn't have been insinuated unless someone looked real closely.

"Wait- are you calling me a bad mother?" Martha rounded on Sirius so quick, that the Weasley children felt slightly bad for Ryou and Amane when their Mum finally caught up with them.

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

"Malik," Ryou smiled, taking a seat at a table with his friend in the café. "I didn't know you were in London." Malik gave Ryou a Cheshire like grin, taking in his friends' appearance- black dress shoes, pants, a white long sleeve shirt- it looked almost as if he was dressed for some sort of boarding school… Hmm…

"Yeah, well, I was in the area," Malik waved him off. "Isis has a job up at a school in Scotland, and she's dragging me along with her." Ryou smiled.

"Well," Ryou said, trying to point out the bright side. "At least you're spending time with her." Malik gave a small nod.

"Yeah I guess…" Malik leaned back in his chair. "How is your family? You're here visiting relatives, right?" Ryou blinked, nearly falling out of his own chair. He hadn't told Malik that- he hadn't told anybody that he was visiting relatives. Just that he was headed back to England; Yugi-tachi didn't pry- they never did.

"Err, yeah," Ryou answered a little uncertainly. "My family's fi- ah!" Malik could only assume that Ryou was going to say 'fine' as a small twister came swirling in and promptly draped itself around Ryou's neck.

"Otouto-tenshi!" Said twister whined in Ryou's ear, causing Malik's attention to perk. "We're in sooo much trouble, you naughty boy! Sneaking out, lying, punching a girl, you'd think those Japs made you into what Mum hates!" Ryou rolled his eyes as Malik's eyes nearly popped out of his head as the twister rambled off a list that Malik couldn't believe Ryou did.

"Amane," Ryou's voice was strained. "Let me go, onegai?" The white glob of a twister seemed to only ruffle into Ryou's hair more as he struggled to detach the leech that Malik could only assume was his older brother/sister.

"You're a sibling of Ryou's?" Malik asked casually, and the persons' head snapped up so quickly, that Malik had to blink to make sure that Ryou hadn't just grown a second head.

"Aa. Boku no namae wa Bakura Amane." Amane answered, causing Malik to blink; she spoke Japanese as well? Well, that would make sense, seeing as Ryou spoke it.

"I'm this nuts' twin sister." Amane clarified. "Older by the lucky number of seven-seven. Seven minutes and seven seconds. Really lucky, huh?" Amane released Ryou a little reluctantly, ruffling his hair, stepping to the side.

Malik took a second to observe Ryou's sister. He was not staring! Just… merely making an observation on their differences.

Which, to say the least, wasn't many. Amane was the epitome of Ryou if Ryou was really a girl. She wore a white blouse and a light green and blue plaid skirt with black dress shoes and knee high stockings (**5**). Her hair was just as poufy as Ryou's was, and her eyes the same doe brown as her brothers. However…

There was nothing about it. Amane would win hands down if you were to pick which one was cute-err, more effeminate! That's right, more effeminate! He's not thinking things like that about his best friends' sister, nosiree, Malik is not!

"Yeah…" Malik tried to think of something to say, attempting to ignore the suspicious look that Ryou was giving him. He wasn't checking Amane out! Really, and to prove it, he would look at only Ryou!

…Who was still similar to Amane. Freakishly so. If Malik didn't know any better, he'd say that Yami no Bakura had been given his own body and Ryou was wearing a skirt.

"So, did you just meet me to say bye?" Ryou asked, Amane taking a seat next to her brother.

"Yeah, because that would be pretty bad- you could just say that on the cellie." Amane chimed flippantly, studying her nails in mock boredom.

"Amane-!" Ryou hissed, and Amane just shook her head.

"Seriously Ryou-Chan?" Amane sighed. "We're going to be in loads of trouble for this already! We weren't supposed to leave the house-" "_You didn't have to come-!_" "-Mum's probably have gone ballistic by now! Scratch that," Amane said suddenly, shaking her head. "The adults are already looking for us before we have to leave. That's why I came in." Ryou blinked, before realizing what his sister had just implied.

"You were stalking me?" Amane blinked, then rubbed the back of her head, laughing.

"Heh, I wouldn't call it _stalking_, persay… More like following to make sure you didn't get hurt." Amane regarded him with careful eyes, judging their reactions.

"But, anyways." Amane changed the subject. "What's your name?"

"Malik. Malik Ishtal." Malik responded with an easy sounding voice. "You go to school in London?" Amane shook her head.

"Boarding school in France," Amane answered. "However, Mum wants Ryou to attend- sorry, she's _forcing_ him to attend a school here and she's making me come along for the ride." Amane blinked, before a cat-like grin of her own appeared on her face. "And by here, I mean Scotland. Oh, you're going to a school in Scotland- coincidence, right?"

As pleased as his sister sounded, Ryou had a sinking feeling that her pleasantries were false. She was up to something… But what? Sighing, Ryou had a sinking feeling that he was just going to have to wait and find out- when Amane was up to something, she rarely let anybody in on it (unless she was prodded about it, of course, but that was a dangerous action in itself.)

"Anyways," Amane voice bopped up again, not giving time for response or for Ryou to fully realize that his sister had been stalking him in the loosest definition of the word. "It's ten-thirty. Trains leaving in thirty minutes. Shouldn't we be going to _Kings Cross?"_

The two males in the group blinked, neither catching the implication that Amane was putting in. They just nodded, and shrugged it off as coincidence.

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

Ten minutes and two wrong turns later, the trio had made it to Kings Cross, ready to board their respective trains and set off to school.

"So," Amane bubbled, having been quite for the whole trip over (except to yell at the two when they were arguing over which way they should go, forgetting that Amane had lived in the area all her life). "Where's your train leave from, Malik?" Malik blinked, before fishing out his train ticket from a pocket. He blinked, and squinted at the ticket- English wasn't his native language, and while he could speak, it was still a little hard to read it (**6**).

"Ano… I'm not completely sure on how the train systems work here, Bakura-aneue (**7**)," Malik informed her. "But, my ticket says I'm leaving from Platform Nine and Three-Quarters." Amane smirked triumphantly, almost as if she were the cat that had just snatched the canary.

"That's what I thought." Amane grinned, and went to move, but hesitated, saying, "Amane will be fine, Malik. This isn't Japan." The blond blinked, and the two boys followed Amane like cows to the slaughter as she led them to their trains.

A few minutes later, they were standing with their trolleys between Platforms Nine and Ten.

"…Mind informing me where the Platform is?" Malik asked, not seeing it. "That way you can get to your train?" Obviously neither of the boys had noticed her triumphant look, or were just doing their best to ignore the girl.

"Alright, this is very easy." Amane winked at Malik, smile on her face. "See that pillar there with the sign for Platform Ten hanging off of it?" Malik nodded, and Amane moved so she was standing by the pillar.

"Make sure it's the right one," She added. "There are other stations than just this one that are hard to find- trust me. I know from experience (**8**)." Malik nodded, not getting where Amane was going.

"Now, all you have to do is run straight for the wall. Run into it. Trust me, it won't hurt."

Both boys blinked, and Bakura summed it up pretty well, though Malik couldn't hear him.

/_Bloody Hell yandounishi- is your sister crazy or is that just a trait of the family?_/

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

The boys blinked, obviously not believing Amane. Finally, Ryou dared to speak up to his sister.

"How do you know this?" He asked faintly, and Amane winked.

"Experience from my train to France," Amane answered. "Now we better hurry. The Hogwarts Express won't wait forever!" There was a pause before Malik realized what school Amane had said. However, before he could speak, Amane had already come up from behind him and started pushing him towards the wall. Malik tripped over his feet, but before he could right himself prior to hitting the wall, he simply… fell through it.

Amane turned towards Ryou, an evil looking glint in her eyes.

"You're next!" She trilled, voice sugary sweet despite the gleam in her eyes. Ryou, however, was smart enough to choose pride over stupidity and went and passed through the wall without help from his darling aneue.

He passed through the wall, and it was as if he had passed through to a different world. Ryou was on a completely different Platform than the one they had just been on, and this one was packed with parents, kids, sisters, brothers, all saying goodbye to one another, hurrying towards the big red train that stood off to the side of the terminal, engine next to a sign that read,

**Platform 9 ¾**

"Your sister's mean Ryou!" Malik pouted, coming and standing beside him. "But, this is cool anyways, right? We're both going to the same school."

"Yes." A voice piped from behind them. "Absolutely charming." The boys turned to see Amane, standing off to the side, trolley and trunk gone, holding Nightingale's carrier.

"My stuff's already on the train." Amane explained needlessly. "Ryou, why don't you go get a compartment? Malik and I will catch up." The look in Amane's eyes gave no room for arguments, and even when Ryou tried to protest, Amane shook her head. At least Malik had some sense of pride after being pushed through the barrier by Amane, and shooed his friend off.

"Don't worry," Malik smiled. "I'll be fine." Ryou sighed and shook his head in a manner that made Malik had just signed his own death warrant, and hopped up onto the train to secure a compartment for the three of them. Malik turned to face Amane, and jumped back, suddenly finding her in his face.

"Now listen here." Amane's tone was dangerous and it made Malik realize why Ryou had looked the way he had. "I _know_ what has been going on with my brother and everything and I _know_ that _**you**_ played a part as well." Malik blinked. Amane couldn't be saying that she knew about the Millennium Items, could she?

A finger was poked in his face, and Malik batted it away without flinching.

"And?" He asked, a tone of indifference in his voice. "What of it?"

"I _know_ what Iki no Ryou (**8**) did," Amane's tone was curt. "And I also _know_ that _**you**_ manipulated otouto-tenshi alongside Iki no Ryou." So she did know. Well, that was a slight problem. Hopefully she was the only one that knew.

"And?" Malik inquired once more, not letting Amane see how she was rattling him. "Why are you coming to me about all of this?" Amane glared at Malik.

"Because," She drew the word out slowly to get her point across. "I want to be sure that you won't manipulate and use my brother again for your own selfish purposes." Ah, that was it. Instead of Big Brother protectiveness, it was Big Sister protectiveness. And to be honest, it was actually a little more intimidating.

Girls can have nasty backhands and those purses and manicures? Malik was thankful that his sister wasn't into that sort of stuff.

Raising his hands in mock surrender, Malik sighed and let his shoulders droop as if he had been defeated.

"Ne, ne," Malik conceded defeat. "You have my word Bakura-aneue." Malik knew that she had asked him to call her Amane, but Malik just wanted to see her reaction to it this time.

And to his shock- she smirked.

"Alright then," She replied, heaving herself onto the train. "Glad we're on the same page. Now, why don't we find my brother?"

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

It didn't take the two long to find Ryou, sitting by himself in a compartment towards the end of the car they were on. Amane was surprised that there was an empty car, but she didn't complain. Ryou's eyes flickered between her and Malik, and Amane rolled her eyes as she plopped unladylike on to the seat across from her twin.

"Oh hush," She berated him. "It's not like I castrated him or anything- what is he, your boyfriend?" If Amane noticed how her brother and Malik blushed, she took no notice, instead opting to stare out the window of the still vehicle, waiting for it to start moving towards its ultimate goal; Hogwarts Castle.

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

In the end, none of them spotted the twins on the boarding platform for the train. And while it had seemed funny in the beginning, Martha's worry ad anger over her children's actions had just became annoying, and Harry and the rest of the kids were happy to be on the train to get away from it.

So, there they were, on the train, trying to find a compartment ('they' being him and Ginny as Ron and Hermione had a Prefects meeting they had to attend). Passing different compartments, they stopped at one with two familiar people and one not-so-familiar.

"Ryou? Amane?" Harry asked, opening the door to the compartment, causing all three in the compartment to look up.

"Oh. Hi Harry," Amane had the decency to respond. Ryou looked at the two as well, and the strange blond they were sitting with looked over as well. "Need someplace to sit?" She looked over towards her brother and their friend, where the one blonde shrugged, and the twins connected glances, before Amane turned back to them saying,

"You can sit here if you want to." Harry and Ginny came and sat down, both opting to sit on the side with Amane instead of her brother and the weird looking blond.

There was an awkward silence for a few moments.

"Honestly," Amane sighed, exasperated. "Must I do everything? Why don't you introduce yourselves!" Amane stood up and stalked to the door.

Acting as if speaking would drop a bombshell, Ryou tentatively asked his sister,

"Where are you going?" Amane scowled.

"For a walk. My brain is melting from the stupidity in here."

And the door slammed shut. A faint smile was proffered by Ryou, who looked like he was embarrassed.

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

_I don't understand what's wrong with me. I keep getting angry or worried or upset by the stupidest of things! Whether it's hormones or what, I don't know! I'm just sick and tired of it and I want it to stop!_

…_What's happening to me? My magic keeps tumbling throughout me and it makes me feel so bad that I can hardly sleep at night. I want to tell someone; I want to tell someone so badly, but I can't. Something keeps me from telling. Almost as if it's one big secret that can't be shared._

_I really can't explain why I can't tell. I'll try to tell someone, but my throat will swell up, and I lose my nerve. Like some otherworldly force is keeping me from letting others know of my pain and misery. Like I have to suffer alone._

_Suffer alone, in darkness, with no __**light**__ to guide my way through the __**dark**__ I'm trapped in._

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

In the end, Amane never reappeared back to the compartment. It made Ryou worry a little, but he drew back from the worry as the ride went along. Then, before he knew it, the trip was over and they were sitting at the station at the school.

Getting off the train, their group lingered by it, trying to spot Amane.

"No Malfoy this year," Ron was saying. "I'm surprised with how quiet the trip was."

"Likewise, Weasel." A disdainful voice echoed from the side. "And here I was hoping to avoid you completely."

"Malfoy…" Harry growled, but Malfoy found something else that had attracted his attention.

"Aren't you supposed to be at Beauxbatons?" Malfoy was looking pointedly at Ryou, obviously mistaking him for Amane.

"Ah, Darcy darling, there you are my darling cousin~!" A voice from behind Malfoy called, draining Malfoy's face of all color as the owner of the voice draped itself over his neck.

"Isn't this wonderful?" Amane cooed, refusing to release Malfoy. "You, me, my wonderful otouto, all here at Hogwarts! Oh, now we can push you into this lake Darcy, just like when we were eight!"

Turning so she was in front of her cousin, Amane planted a kiss on Malfoy's cheek. Backing up hastily, she grabbed Ryou's hand.

"Now we run Ryou!" Amane giggled, snatching up not only Ryou's hand, but Malik's as well. "See at the feast Darcy!" (**9**)

And Amane dragged Ryou and Malik off towards the boats where the first years were.

Silence reigned, until someone snickered.

"So… uh, _Darcy_, was it?" Harry finally dared to say, and Malfoy's face burst into color.

"Stuff it Potter," He growled, storming off as the group fully burst out laughing.

Stupid Amane. Why couldn't she stay in France?

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

"Why are you so nervous?" Amane, Ryou, and Malik were all standing out in the hall outside of the room where all the other students had entered. They were outside because they were older students, as well as transfers, so of course a big deal would be made.

"Aren't you?" Ryou shot back, and Amane laughed.

"No. Why should I? Makes me feel like I'm a first year again, waiting to find out which house I'm going in again…" Amane sighed, reminiscing. Malik laughed.

"I think you're the only one who's nervous, Ryou," Malik laughed. "Personally, I think it's a bit exciting." Ryou sighed.

"Of course you'd find it exciting, Malik." Amane laughed at the exasperation in her brothers voice as he responded to his friend, shaking her head, as she heard Dumbledore's echoing voice.

"_And now I'd like to introduce three transfer students we will be holding this year."_

"That's our cue," Amane laughed, pushing the door open, stepping into the Great Hall.

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

"These students have left their own schools for a chance to learn at Hogwarts this year," Dumbledore continued as the twins and Malik entered, students turning to look at them.

"Doesn't the one go to Beauxbatons…?"

"Yeah, I remember seeing her in their one production…"

"The blonde one's kinda cute…"

"Do you think the two are twins?"

"These students will be entering the Fifth Year Class," Dumbledore's voice rose above the whispering, "And I hope that you will be treat them as though as they have been coming here as long as yourselves."

"What house do you think they're going into?" Ron said over the table to Harry. "I'm betting the twins go into Slytherin; they're Malfoy's so I don't doubt it."

"Ronald!" Hermione scowled, cuffing him. "That's not nice! Just because they're cousins doesn't mean they'll be in the same house."

"Bakura, Amane; Beauxbatons Magical Institute for Magical Arts, France," McGonagall called out, Amane gracefully walking up to the stool, sitting on it with her legs crossing under her as the old hat was placed on her head.

The Sorting Hat sat on her head for a moment, apparently deciding which House she should go to. After a moment, it made its decision.

"_Gryffindor!" _The hat called out, Amane standing up and flouncing down to the table of red and gold clad students.

Sitting down at the table, Amane didn't notice the smirk that Hermione gave Ron that clearly read, '_I told you so._'

"Bakura, Ryou; Hiroto's School for the Magically Inclined, Japan," That was a lie, but it wasn't like the school knew it.

/_It's a hat._/ Bakura commented disdainfully. /_What is it supposed to do? Does it just pick a random house to put you in?_/

/_Yami…_/ Ryou sighed in response as he sat down on the chair. The hat was placed on his head, and Ryou froze as he felt shuffling going on through his mind. /_Yami… Are you doing that?_/

/_…I thought that was you, yandounishi._/ Came Bakura's response.

_**There are two of you?**_ Inside their shared mind, the two jumped. That couldn't be…?

/_Yandounishi, that isn't the hat, is it?_/

/_I think it is…_/

The hat only grumbled in response, shuffling around for a few more minutes, before the hat retreated, giving his announcement on the house that Ryou would be staying in for the duration of the year.

"_Slytherin!_"

Standing up, Ryou made his way to the green and silver clad table that was on the other side of the hall of the table that Amane was at.

Taking one of the only free seats left, Ryou sat down across from the one person who looked the least happy to see him… His cousin; Draco.

"Ishtal, Malik; Cairo's School for the Gifted, Egypt," Ryou watched as Malik stepped up to the stool eyeing the hat warily.

It looked almost as if Malik was afraid that the hat was going to eat his soul or something. That was an amusing thought. Not as amusing as his yami having to kiss someone to steal their soul, but still…

/_I heard that gaki._/ Bakura growled, but didn't do anything else, making Ryou feel slightly relieved. Tuning back to reality, Ryou was just in time to hear the hat's proclamation of Malik's house.

"_Slytherin!_"

Jumping off the stool, Malik made his way quickly over to the Slytherin table, plopping down next to Ryou, trying to ignore the whispers made by all four of the tables.

As Dumbledore started talking again, either the tables listened to him, or they started their own conversations.

"So, you're Ryou's cousin?" Malik asked, looking at Malfoy across the table from his spot next to Ryou.

"Draco Malfoy. Call me Malfoy," He sniffed. "How do you know Ryou and Amane? I thought you were from Egypt." Malik blinked for a moment.

"I spent some time in Japan and while I was there I met him." Malik answered. "I didn't know he had a sister until a little before the train left." Malfoy cast a glance towards Ryou, who didn't say anything.

"Are you a pureblood?" Malfoy asked, unblinking as he stared at Malik, who blinked in response.

"Pureblood?" Malik asked, but before Malfoy could say anything, Ryou explained.

"He means if both your parents have magic or not."

"Yeah," Malik answered Malfoy. "My family's been studying magic for centuries."

"I would like to announce a change in staff as well," Dumbledore's voice echoed through the Hall. "First, Professor Grubbly-Plank has returned to teach Care of Magical Creatures, while Professor Dolores Umbridge is taking care of Defense Against the Dark Arts." There was a pause for brief clapping as the professors stood up, and Dumbledore continued.

"As well, for the year," Dumbledore continued. "We would like to welcome a guest speaker for the Ancient Runes class, come here from Egypt. Miss Isis Ishtal!" Malfoy looked at Malik.

"Are you related?" He asked, and Malik nodded.

"Yeah, she's my sister." Malik answered, looking up at his sister briefly before tuning Dumbledore back out.

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

"Too bad Ryou was placed in Slytherin," Ron was saying over at the Gryffindor table to Amane. Amane looked up, giving the Weasley a strange look.

"Why?" Amane asked. "It's not like I can't still see him." Action at the table froze. "What? What did I say?"

"Amane…" Harry graced the girl with her answer. "Slytherin's and Gryffindor's hate each other." Amane blinked.

"But what about house unity and all that stuff?" Amane asked. "You know, '_United we Stand, Divided we Fall_'?" Silence was her answer, and Amane sighed, picking at her salad.

"I'm starting to miss France…"

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

**1- A typical Tarot Spread has the three across the middle, representing Past, Present, And Future, along with a card above and below the middle card signifying Love and Death.**

**2- They share a room. Why? I felt like it.**

**3- Ryou will call Bakura Yami alot. Please do not get him mixed up with Atem.**

**4- Yes, Ryou is the younger of the two, as you found out this chapter.**

**5- This is what I always imagined Hogwarts uniforms to be like!**

**6- It's typically a little hard to read a language that's not your original one, especially seeing as Arabic and Japanese has those characters and Kanji, unlike English which is just letters...**

**7- Bakura-aneue/Bakura-otouto saying a persons name like that helps differentiate between twins. (I learned that from DN Angel. Hah! It wasn't a waste of time!)**

**8- Means 'Ryou's Spirit' This is how Amane will refer to Bakura most of the story.**

**9- Aww, isn't little Darcy cute? Don't worry, explanations will be given.**

And that's Chapter 8. If you're wondering about the Chapter titles, there is a reason behind it. You'll find out soon enough.

And there will most likely be a side-story as to how Amane knows of the other stations besides Hogwarts and Beauxbatons. But not yet, 'kay? Kay.

Read and Review and Tell me what you think~!

~~Paw-Chan Signing Out~~

~P.S.- Without notes and stuff, this chapter was 6663 words long and 15 pages, size 11 Calibri font. O.o I love you guys that much~!


	9. An Interlude: The Snake And The Scorpion

Hello! I'm back! Sorry about the wait. I was gone from home for a week, and when I finally started this, I had only a handful of lines left before I was forced to get off the computer, and then I kept putting off finishing up the chapter... But, I'm here now, so no worries! Hakuna Matata, eh? Review Replies!

_**DesecratedPharaoh-**_ Right? We are the masters of embarrassment. Don't worry; if not in later chapters, there will surely be a side story to Draco getting pushed into the lake. ^_^ Glad you liked it.

**_xDarkLightx-_** I'm glad you like it! Thanks for the review! ^_^

**_Kiara victory Tatsu-_** Breaking down walls? Definitely. Building Bridges? Hmm... I think Amane would sooner swim than build a bridge... Joking... Maybe. Thanks for the review!

**_Bokmal14-_** Glad you liked it! Yes, Darcy... You guys will soon see that Ryou and Amane are like Yin and Yang; their clashing personalities makes them perfect twins for each other.

Thanks for the reviews guys! ^_^ I really appreciate them. There is only one matter I need to address before the chapter starts.

So, someone confronted me about the fact that they didn't like my interpretation of Amane and Ryou's mother. Now, I will say this- to each their own. You have every right to hate my personification of two characters who are meant to be dead, and you may tell me that. However, addressing me about the fact that someone keeps secrets from loved ones isn't right? Ah, wouldn't it be a perfect world if there were no secrets kept? No offense, but everybody keeps secrets. Especially from loved ones. My own mother kept a secret from me and is keeping it still; she doesn't know I know.

Martha bossing them around and fussing? All mothers are bossy; mine is! Fussing? Martha hasn't seen Ryou in about eight years, so she has every right to be fussy! You may have no respect for a mother like that, but to me that's what makes a mother irreplaceable. Because it's the faults in your parent that makes you love them, not what's perfect.

Sorry about that; it was bugging me and I needed to vent. But, honestly, think of your own mother and how she acts and such. Don't you like her faults more than why she's such a great mom? Like I said before, it's the faults that makes mom's irreplaceable.

No, without further ado, the chapter.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Yu-Gi-Oh**

_The Snake coiled to strike; the Scorpion was going to be perfect as his next meal. Yet, as he made to end it, the Scorpion stopped him._

"_Wait!" The Scorpion halted the Snake. "It's not me you want!" Pausing, the Snake studied the Scorpion curiously._

"_Oh?" The Snake hissed. "Then who do I want?" The Scorpion scuttled from side to side from the rock he was on._

"_There's a Rat down the road." The Scorpion said quickly. "You don't want me, you want the Rat. The Rat would be a better meal for you." –And get him out of my way,- The Scorpion opted not to say. "Huh? What about it? Do you want a crunchy meal like me, or something fleshier like the Rat?"_

_Watching as the Snake seemed to ponder his offer, the Scorpion knew that the Snake was leaning towards going for him and not the Rat, the Scorpion made one more last ditch attempt._

"_Tell you what," The Scorpion threw in. "I'll even bring him to the area of your choice. He'll follow me; I'll set him up and get you your meal. What about it?" The Snake paused once more, before settling down._

"_Alright." The Snake conceded. "However, if I don't get the Rat, I will eat you." The Scorpion nodded._

"_Yeah, yeah, I got it!" The Scorpion agreed. "But trust me, you are going to get your Rat!"_

**Chapter 9: An Interlude; The Snake And The Scorpion**

_**Date: August 7**__**th**__**; Five Days Before The Trial.**_

Voldemort was getting restless. He had had a perfect plan ready to take out Potter when blasted Dumbledore wasn't expecting, but he found out now; two days _before_ the plan was to be executed that Potter had disappeared from his house on Privet Drive. No doubt that it was Dumbledore's responsibility; the bastard was always interfering.

Some outside source had nearly caused Potter to lose his wand; it would have been the perfect opportunity for Voldemort. Potter wouldn't have been able to defend himself, and Voldemort would have thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to play Cat and Mouse with the child once more, relishing the fact that he wouldn't be able to defend himself with his wand.

Unfortunately for Voldemort, Dumbledore had prevented Potter from getting his wand snapped right away. However Voldemort knew that Potter would be hesitant to use his wand after getting threatened to have his wand taken away, meaning that he would be all that easier to be brought within his clutches. Dumbledore must've thought of that, though, because of course the old bastard went and removed his 'golden child' from Privet Drive as soon as he could, before Voldemort could strike.

Tapping his fingers on the arm of his chair sourly, Voldemort receded and forced himself to allow patience to wait for the Ministry to decide whether or not to snap the boys' wand. After that, he would decide where to go.

_**Date: August 12**__**th**__**; Trial Day, Nineteen Days Before Hogwarts Express Leaves**_

Voldemort was furious. Potter didn't get his wand snapped, and it didn't help that not only there were three other kids there with him, one was a witch as well (on trial) but the fact that Potter had two witnesses! Malfoy had been the one to tell him the news; it had appeared that his niece had been the other child standing trial. No doubt Malfoy had probably been able to pull his niece out at any time, but the Ministry had forced the poor girl through the trial because it would've been unethical to put Potter through one and not the girl.

Still, this gave Voldemort an unseen opportunity that he hadn't known about before. Not only was Malfoy's niece transferring from her old school to Hogwarts, but Malfoy's nephew was coming was well. And while Malfoy didn't have a good relationship with his sister per se, he had a working one with his niece and nephew, which would work to his advantage. Voldemort knew that there would be a handful of kids around the school suspicious of the new students as they came and were assigned their houses by the batty Sorting Hat, but there was trust that could be established.

Trust, that could be established with Potter. Either one would be able to do what Malfoy's own son could not, and get Potter to trust them. And that trust would be Voldemort's key to Potter's downfall.

_**Date: August 28**__**th**__**; Three Days Before Hogwarts Express Leaves**_

The Hogwarts Express was leaving soon. Soon Potter would be back within Dumbledore's little protective nest and even harder for Voldemort to track what he was doing (as Malfoy's son was an idiot and could do nothing right- not even befriend some on as trusting as Potter!). That, though, was a problem that soon would be fixed. From what Voldemort had been told from his followers, Malfoy's niece and nephew had already started to become friends with Potter. Now all that he needed was to draw the children over to his side, and everything would be perfect…

"So you must be the one in charge here." A voice drawled, catching Voldemort's attention. He had ordered specifically to be let alone! Who would be so incompetent as to let someone in when he had ordered-!

The figure laughed, stepping forward under the torchlight. The person was wearing a black cloak, with its hood drawn, preventing Voldemort from identifying any distinct features on the person as well as identifying their gender.

"Who let you in?" Voldemort snapped. He wanted to find the idiot who let this person in.

"Why nobody," By the figure's tone of voice it made it seem like they were grinning. "I let myself in. Wasn't that hard." Voldemort fumed. Not that hard? This place had the best protections they could find! And for this person to make it seem like child's play? It was insulting!

"Why are you here then?" Voldemort asked, his voice calm despite the fact that he was raging with fury inside. What would this person want with him? He knew that it wasn't to join; he would be dead within a second with how impudent he acted.

"I've heard about your achievements and goals," The figure gave a mocking bow. "And I feel that we both could…ah... _benefit_ from each other."

"Benefit?" Voldemort decided to humor the person and take the bait. "Benefit how?"

"Why it's very simple," The figure responded, reaching into his cloak. He pulled out a book, tossing it onto the floor between them. "All you have to do is give me a real body." Voldemort pondered a second, thinking it over.

"Real body?" He asked curiously, fingering his wand which he had pulled out. "So the one you're using is…?" The figure chuckled.

"Borrowed." They responded. "Like you did before, aren't I right? You borrowed somebody's body like this before, haven't you?" Voldemort chose not to respond, and instead asked the other question on his mind.

"What do I get from this deal, then?" Voldemort asked. "If all I have to do is obtain a real body for you?" The figure smirked, a fanged grin.

"Why, Mr. Marvlo," Voldemort should just kill him for using that name in his presence, "I can help you obtain a power that nearly destroyed Egypt five millennia ago."

Intriguing. Voldemort was curious as to how this person knew this information and where to find that power, yet one more question was weighing on his mind that he wanted to ask.

"What's your name?" The figure recoiled from Voldemort, almost as if Voldemort had just told him that he was going to kill him. And who knew, maybe he was going to kill him… After he got that power that nearly destroyed Egypt…

"Come now," It was Voldemort's turn to smirk. "You can't seriously let me believe that I can't know your name? You already know my name; it wouldn't be fair if we were partners and you didn't tell me your name." The figure laughed once more, shaking their head.

"Kukuku, it's nothing like that."The figure was acting almost as if… as if he were merely toying with him. "If you are really insistent to know my name, I will tell you my name."

The figure paused, and Voldemort grew more impatient by the second. At the rate this whelp was going, his name would be of no importance to him. He would be just another nameless person lost to the greater cause.

Then, finally, the figure spoke.

"I am one who lived during the time that Egypt was nearly destroyed," The figure stated first, giving Voldemort a mild jolt of surprise. Was this so? If true, then this would give him an advantage over Dumbledore…

"And?" Voldemort waved his hand in a seemingly bored tone. "Your name is what I asked for, not your history."

The figure smirked.

"Alright," He raised his hands. "I won't show you the face of my current host, but I will give my name. Kukuku."

"My name is…" The figure gave a distinct fanged smirk that Voldemort could clearly see from where he was seated, despite the fact that the figure's face was shrouded in shadows.

"Zorc."

And as if that was the trigger, the figure, who Voldemort now knew his name as 'Zorc', vanished into thin air, leaving one thing behind him.

"I'll be back, Mr. Marvalo. You can count on it."

And all was silent.

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

Yes, I admit it, this chapter is a filler. But I figured you may want to see what Voldie was up to, and also I needed to add in**_ him _**somehow... Kukuku...

Yes, Zorc is in this! Didn't see that, now did you? Well, something needed to make this interesting, and while Zorc may seem like a cliche, he fit- especially since everybody thought his highness took care of him.

**_*SPOILER?*_** And no, Yami no Yugi will not appear to take care of Zorc and get rid of him. This story is starring Ryou and Bakura mainly along with Amane and Malik as well as the Hogwarts crew, and they will be the ones who directly/indirectly defeat Zorc. As far as I am concerned there is no need for Yami no Yugi when the current characters in the story right now are perfectly capable of getting rid of Zorc. _***End Spoiler?***_

Sorry if that seemed like a spoiler. That's why I gave the warning.

But still, other things, like, sorry the chappie was so short. Like I mentioned before, it's a filler. Also, Who's Zorc's vessel now? Who is he possessing?

Read on and find out... Review please!

_Kukuku..._

~~Paw-Chan Signing Out~~


	10. The Rat, The Scarab, and The Curious Cat

So... I've had this started for probably three months now, and I've just finished it... Why's that? I'd like to lay the Blame card, for 50. No- just kidding.

I'm really sorry I haven't updated in forever. I've gotten addicted to D-Gray Man (stupid ff keeps deleting when I put in a . instead of a hyphen...) and Fullmetal Alchemist, I still can't finish Death Note, I have all this other crap that comes with Junior year that I have to do... I just haven't had the motivation or time to write as much as I want. I'm working on it though! I know how I want this to go, I just have to figure out around everything in the middle... (how come it's always the beginning and the end that's easy and the middle's a witch?)

Anyway, Review replies! ^_^

_**Isana:**_ Thanks! I'm glad you like it!

_**Misting Rain:**_ I'm glad you liked it despite it being a filler. As well as the fact that you thought the information was a good thing. I was a little uncertain about putting the chapter in, but I did it because I thought you guys would like it, and you did, so thanks! ^_^

_**xDarklightx:**_ Glad you liked it! ^_^

_**Phobias Athena:**_ Glad you liked it, and aren't all cliffy's evil? xp

_**sakurademonalchemist:**_ Don't we all want to know how Zorc got out? Well, I mean, 'we' as in you readers. However, that's something you guys won't figure for a while... kukuku...

_**HateAmane:**_ Well, thanks for saying my story is horrible~! ^)^ I don't use Ore-Sama for Bakura, because even though he's arrogant, he's attempting to change for Ryou. Will he say it sooner or later? Yes. I could tell you hate Amane by your sn, and I'm sorry if this story has too much of a lack of blood&gore for your serial killer-esque tastes. Ryou won't be attacking anybody because of a _girl _insult. No offense, but you're a little rude. I did actually know about the Monster World Arc, so I did know about the Ring attaching itself as well as the fact that his had was stabbed on _the castle spire._ And as for Amane noticing that particular wound, by this point the scar would be so faded that you can't notice it unless you are actually looking for it- I know because I have a scar on my leg and I can't find it myself unless I'm actually looking for it. And even if they are in different houses they will still talk. It's like grade levels- just because you are in different grade levels doesn't mean you won't speak to your siblings. I talk to my sister who's a senior even though I'm a junior. Well, anyways, that's all I have to say~! ^)^ Thank's for calling my story horrible! Well, that's all I have to say ^)^

_**Bok mal:**_ Thanks! Glad you liked it!

_**j bear:**_ *blinking* You're not surprised? Aww... What gave it away? Oh well, at least you don't know _who_ he's using... ^_^ Thanks for the review!

_**AleCat1230:**_ Yeah, that's why I had him go to Voldie with the info. I figured Zorc wanted -*-*-* done, so to get -*-*-* he would go to Voldie, who's too concentrated on killing Harry and committing genocide of muggles to look to the past.

_**subaru1999:**_ Thanks! That made me really happy. Some people haven't been too happy about Ryou's mom or Amane, so that makes me happy!

_**LightDarkandChaos:**_ It won't change much, I gaurantee you. The Darcy thing has its own amusing side story, and shoot! I keep forgetting about Nightengale! Don't worry her species will be revealed soon enough! Thanks for the review. I'm glad you like it so far!

_**moonlightskymist:**_ Yup! And boy, will you be surprised! XD

_**Archivist:**_ Glad you think so. :-D Zorc's my favorite YGO bad guy, Malik and Ryou are my fav characters, and Amane is awesome! ^_^ Thanks for the review!

_**randomperson:**_ Glad you tink so! Thank's for the review!

_**justarandomNightWorldfan:**_ Yup-yup-yup! Here's the update! ^_^

Thank you for all the reviews as usual, and sorry about the wait~! I hope you enjoy the chappie! (And sorry for those of you who read through all the replies and were annoyed by my little rant around the middle there...)

_Translations:_

_Gaki- Brat_

**Disclaimer: The usual. I don't own HP, I don't own YGO, it sucks to be me...**

_The Rat scurried over and around the rocks and such lying in his path in the marketplace. If he was quick enough- which there was no doubt in his mind that he was -he would be in and out with his food before the human in charge even knew that he had been there in the first place._

_Was he cocky? Just a smidge; but, then again, didn't one need to be, in order to survive? A little bit of cockiness went a long way here. It not only kept you fed, but it kept you alive. How, the Rat wasn't certain, but he had been told that in passing by a shady looking Scorpion, so the Rat unwillingly believed it._

_All in all, it was a relative easy job. He got in and out of the market stall with his meal before the stupid human even realized he had been there. So, here he was, outside of the village a little ways, eating his meal with defensive eyes. One wrong move and his food could- no, it would be gone in an instant._

_A scuttling caught his ears; drawing his beady eyes to the source of the noise, the Rat discovered that it was just a Scarab. A brightly colored Scarab, at that. A glittering green and purple sheen on its hull, shining under the sun. If the bug hadn't been alive, the Rat would have taken it without a second thought._

_However, not only was the Scarab alive, the Rat knew this Scarab. It was one that distrusted him, meaning he couldn't kill it even if he wanted to, as well as the fact that wherever the Scarab went, it was almost flawlessly followed by a goldenrod colored Butterfly._

_Yes. The All-Seeing Butterfly, who knew of events before they happened._

_Who knew, maybe she had foreseen her own death already. Maybe his and the Scarab's as well._

**Chapter 10: The Rat, The Spider, and The Curious Cat**

To say Bakura was mad was an understatement- a big one at that. Saying he was angry was one as well, though not as big of one as before. Furious was a close guess, but the better one was to say that the spirit residing within Ryou was outright pissed. Why? Well, why not?

Bakura had thought that with no one knowing but the gaki's sister that he was around that he would at least be able to take over Ryou's body a little bit- you know, cause a little mayhem here and there and relish in the fact that his host's good image would divert all suspicion away from him. No. Not a chance. Not a snowballs chance in hell. Why?

The stupid Tomb Keeper. The stupid Tomb Keeper and his bitch of a sister. Bakura didn't even understand why they were here. They both should be back in Egypt with the other Millennium Items. As far as Bakura's intelligence went they didn't even know that the Ring was missing because neither Ryou nor Amane said anything about it to Malik and the tomb caved in anyways, and was inaccessible.

Perhaps they thought that with the tomb inaccessible the Items were safe… No, that wasn't it. The Tomb Keepers wouldn't just let the Millennium Items alone. They'd either excavate the items themselves, or they would make sure that they never were excavated.

Either way it was a lose-lose situation for Bakura and he had no answer as to why the Ishtals were there in the first place. It was frustrating for Bakura that he didn't have an answer to one of several questions that he held at the present moment.

/_Yami?_/ Ryou's voice mumbled sleepily from the back of their shared mind. /_Is something wrong?_/

/_No._/ The lie flowed through their shared mind without Bakura giving it a second thought. /_Go back to sleep yandounishi._/ All Bakura received in response was a second sleepy mumble and Ryou was out once more, succumbing to sleep.

That was another question that was clouding Bakura's mind. The fact that Ryou was hiding something from him. He wasn't completely sure what his host was hiding from him, but subtle little clues were there. Ryou was worrying more than usual, and he had been more tired than usual. Normally Bakura would say that it was the nerves of a new school that Ryou was facing, but it wasn't.

Ryou had switched schools too many times for it to be nerves- even if he was going to a magic school. Ryou wouldn't let it bother him. No, it was something else. What it was, Bakura wasn't sure of though as Ryou was doing an exceptionally well job at hiding it. Bakura was actually proud that his host had learned to hide stuff from him so well, despite the fact that it annoyed him at the same time.

Bakura sighed and shuffled a little in his soul room. He wouldn't confront Ryou about this yet. He would give Ryou a little more time; give him the chance to speak up about it before he went in interrogating his host about what he was hiding from him.

Until then, he had bigger things to worry about. Things like a certain tomb keeper currently in the same dorm as him and his sister.

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

It was the first day of classes, and Amane sat with Harry, Ron, and Hermione at breakfast, shifting a little in the unfamiliar uniform.

"This must be weird for you, huh?" Harry asked, watching Amane as she shifter in the robe and skirt yet again. "New school and everything…"

"Yeah," Amane agreed. "The only time I switched schools before was from my muggle school to Beauxbatons when I was eleven. This is different; I don't know anybody, the uniform and most the classes are different."

"Your brother doesn't seem uncomfortable about the move." Hermione noted. "Why's that?"

"He was shuffled around schools for a while after our parents divorced." Amane answered, waving her fork as she spoke. "Dad's an archaeologist, and Ryou was moved around a lot with him until a little while ago when he was dumped by himself in Domino up 'til now." She gave a dazzling smile.

"He doesn't seem it, but nii-san's pretty strong." Amane smiled, before turning her attention back to breakfast.

_He has to be, after all he's gone through._

"I can't believe we have Potions with the Slytherin's _again!_" Ron bemoaned, staring at his schedule in horror. "And on the first day too! As a Double!"

"And Double History of Magic and Divination too, mate." Harry agreed, staring at the schedule in his hands.

"I told you Divination was a useless elective!" Hermione huffed, staring at her own schedule- nearly identical to Harry and Ron's, except for the fact that she had Ancient Runes and Muggle Studies instead of stupid Divination. "Now if you had taken something more useful, like Ancient Runes…"

"Do you know what Amane is taking?" Harry suddenly found himself cutting through Hermione's rant on Divination. "And Ryou? I don't remember either of them saying what electives they were taking." Hermione paused.

"I think they're taking Divination…" Hermione muttered with a slight scowl. "At least, Amane was pushing Ryou to take the class. Other than that, I'm not sure."

"Ancient Runes." The trio jumped, surprised to see Amane standing over Harry's shoulder. She blinked, and gave a smile.

"You were talking about Ryou's schedule, right?" She asked, continuing without an answer. "He's taking Divination and Ancient Runes with Malik. Malik's taking Muggle Studies as well; Ryou says he's just doing it for kicks…"

"What are you taking?" Hermione asked.

"I have Divination and Ancient Runes." Amane shrugged. "Ryou didn't want to take the course alone, and Ancient Runes sounded… _interesting._" There was a moment of silence.

"What do you guys have?" She asked almost innocently after that, sitting down next to Harry, chatting until they had to leave for class.

The whole time though, Hermione wondered if it was only her who noticed the way Amane looked as she said she was interested in Ancient Runes.

One would chalk it up to over-active imagination, but Hermione refused. She thought before that there was something off about the twins, more so when it was revealed that they were Malfoy's relatives, but this…

This was going to take some observation…

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

_There once was a boy,  
His family died before his eyes.  
After their deaths, he didn't know what to do,  
And slowly he became lost in his lies.  
Thievery became his path to life;  
To overcome his hardship and strife._

_In the future then one day he met,  
In the market place a curious looking stranger.  
He was an odd sort of person, a thief like the boy,  
And from him, the young thief could sense the danger.  
The stranger offered him a proposition;  
Talking and smiling with a cheery disposition._

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

That poem at the end is a Scarpaw original~! I feel so proud about that~! ^)^ It's a work in progress, and there will be a stanza (or two, or none) at the end of every chapter. (Kind of like the Spider and The Fly poem that was at the beginning of the first eight chapters!) (The underlined lines are supposed to be indented, but ff is being stupid and deleting the indents, so I'm afraid you havta put up with the underlines...)

I hope you enjoyed the chapter, a short, but nice one! (I was kinda in a rush, 'cuz I wanted a new one up for you guys ASAP) And, I only have one thing left to say before I sign off:

Reviews are appreciated, but please keep complaints to yourself. If you're critiquing, that's one thing- it's another to rip things apart, nitpick on characters, and say someone's story is horrible because of a character you yourself don't like and then proceed to tell them stupid things that the author probably already knows and insult them through inference. As some of you might have seen, if you do that to me, I will drown you in niceness and then proceed to correct what you tried to correct me on.

I take criticism well, but if you're downright insulting, I won't hesitate to retaliate back. Trust me. It's happened before. A character of mine was called a Mary-Sue and I ripped the kid who said that apart because they were taking all the downsides to situation and glaring them in the face, and thinking nothing of what I might have in mind plot-wise.

Oh well. That's what you get when dealing with Debbie-Downers and Negative-Nancy's (No offense to those of you who may have been called that at one point or another.)

Anyways, sorry about my little rant~! I'm horrible about doing those when I'm mad...

Read, Review, Flame, Cry, Laugh, Tell Me What You Think~!

~~Paw-Chan Signing Out~~


	11. Close Encounters of the Feline Kind

Omigosh! Could it be? An actual update? Without waiting 4/5 months? Yes, yes it is. I've decided (though it's not profile official yet, and terms may change) that I'm going to make an attempt of updating once a month/ once every two weeks _all my stories _(or at least twice a month...). I may do as one girl did with her story and attempt to update every week... (probably won't happen though...) That being said, review replies!

**_xDarklightx:_** Thanks! ^_^ Here's the update.

**_LightDarkandChaos:_** Good, that's the point, that none of us knows what's going on. ^_^ Ancient Runes? You'll see soon. And with Malik in Muggle Studies, that's how I thought of it. Terrorizing the teacher with the truth. Thanks for the review!

**_Misting Rain:_** Yup! Well, here's what's next, I hope you like it! ^_^ Thanks for reviewing!

**_Phobias Athena:_** I did so you could suffer. ^_^ No, jk. I actually haven't the slightest on how to characterize the teachers, so I'm trying to stall. (But this chapter has a class, sort of...) Thanks for the review!

**_Sakura Lisel:_** With the Wizengamot thing, they were considering Ryou a muggle. The way I view it, a wizard's wand is like their social security card- their proof that they're a wizard and 'exist' in the Wizarding World. Ryou, not having a wand, technically did not exist in the Wizarding World until his trip to Diagon Alley. As for Amane's view on the rivalry, you'll be a bit surprised about it... thanks for the review! ^_^

**_Anonymous: _**I'm sorry, I won't be cutting down on the Japanese. While there will be chapters without it, I'm not taking it out. I feel it adds culture. I also realize that Amane may not seem canon, but that's alright, because, she technically isn't part of Yu-Gi-Oh, because as far as I know, she was only talked about and she wasn't really characterized- the characterization is left up to the author(ess). And, I checked all the fanfic rules I could find, and none of them said that I was not allowed to reply to reviews on stories. As it is, there are way more kids than myself doing this. And, I apologize, but I do not appreciate my characters being called Mary-Sues. Especially when the definition is being used improperly.

**_j bear:_** Yup! Thanks for the review! I really appreciate it! It was just the pick me up I needed! ^_^ Thanks.

**_mishirosan:_** Thanks. And to clear it up, Amane is older. 'Otouto' means little brother while 'nii' is just plain brother. Thanks for reviewing!

**_Naosj:_** That's alright. I mean, I won't tell you if you're right or anything, but still, I like it when I'm told theories instead of complaints. They make me happy. Especially when they sound like they could seriously happen. Thanks for the review, and I'm with ya- I wanna see the Wizarding World torn asunder! ^_^

I'd like to clear a few things up before we get started, if that's alright with you. If it's not, jump ahead to the story.

**(1) I never claimed to be good at Japanese. To be honest, everything was pretty much Google Translated/Freedicted.**

**(2) Ryou is in Divination and Ancient Runes. Amane is the same. Malik is in Muggle Studies and Ancient Runes. I would like to point out that the twins and Malik had no contact before about Ch. 7, I think it was beside the ONLY phone call in the Ch. 2~ish range. Amane had her electives picked out before Ryou, and upon seeing Divination, she wanted Ryou to take it because he was so good a Tarot. He would only comply if Amane did it along with him. Amane dropped (insert course your choice here) and kept Ancient Runes and picked up Divination. Ryou, not knowing what Amane picked as her other course picked Ancient Runes as well. Malik took Muggle Studies because he thought it would be funny, and Ancient Runes because Isis was a guest teacher for that, (and so, was partially threatened.) Alright? That's why they're in the classes they are. Any more information on why those specific classes that is unclear will most likely be put in the story later on.**

**(3) YUGI AND THE GANG WILL NOT BE HERE! THEY MAKE _ONE_ APPEARENCE AT CHRISTMAS TIME AND THAT IS IT! I HONESTLY DON'T CARE ABOUT OPINIONS ON YU-GI-OH CHARACTERS OTHER THAN THE ONES THAT ARE CURRENTLY PRESENT!**

**(4) Ryou. Good at Divination? Gee willikers, I didn't know that because I've watched episode 39/40 of the original Yu-Gi-Oh, and, oh yeah, there was actually Divination (AKA: Tarot Reading) in the story already!**

**(5) I have a bad temper and rant when annoyed.**

**(6) There's a place called UrbanDictionary (.) com. You want to insult me? UrbanDictionary it first.**

And that's all. Sorry about that. I have a tendency to rant when annoyed (and/or ticked off). Now, without further ado, Chapter 11~!

**Disclaimer" I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, Harry Potter, or The Mysterious Ticking Noise...**

_Lying basking in the sun in the market place as the rat scurried by was a sleek black cat with shining fur. Now, she was not one to chase after rats for her meals- she was one of the palace cats, and as such she was fed proper food, and not any scruffy scavengers off of the streets. However, the Cat did enjoy chasing the rats down for their information. Rats were normally great gossips, having been able to travel everywhere, and gotten all the news that ones like herself could not attain._

_Picking herself up and stretching, the Cat padded after the rat that had scurried by. Who knew, if she wanted she could scare the poor thing before hand… But, then again, that did make it all that much harder to get them to talk…_

**Chapter 11: Close Encounters of the Feline Kind**

Shaking her head, Hermione sighed as she parted ways with Ron and Harry. Amane was trotting after them, Ryou close behind as they left for Divination.

Divination. Hermione scoffed a little. What a useless subject. There were very few _true_ Seers in the world, if any, and Trelawney was nothing but a fraud in Hermione's eyes. Now, if only the boys had taken a more worthwhile subject, like Ancient Runes, or…

"Muggle Studies, perhaps?" Hermione's heart flew to her throat as the voice appeared out of nowhere from behind her. Her books flew out of her hands as she whirled around to see the third new student that she hadn't a chance to properly speak with; Malik.

"Heh, sorry about that," The Slytherin apologized, kneeling down and helping her pick up her books. "Didn't mean to scare you." Hermione shook her head.

"I-It's alright," She collected herself quickly, accepting her books from Malik. "I just wasn't expecting you to speak. I didn't realize you were behind me." Hermione studied Malik; how did he know what she was thinking? Well, there was a chance that it was a matter of coincidence, and at the moment, it seemed like it was the most plausible explanation at the moment.

"Sorry; I should have gotten your attention first." Then, as if realizing something, he stuck out his hand.

"I guess I never properly introduced myself." Malik shrugged. "I'm Malik Ishtal; my sister's here as a guest teacher for the one class, so I was dragged along…" Hermione hesitated before taking the Slytherin's hand and shaking it.

"Hermione Granger," She smiled. "Did you want something?"

"Yeah, actually," Malik said. "I was wondering if you had Muggle Studies next. I mean, if you don't that's alright; I was just wondering…"

Hermione let herself a small frown in the back of her mind. A part of her was screaming not to trust Malik, but another part was telling her to trust him. Something wasn't right… Slytherins are cunning and clever; there was a strong possibility he was using her for something, but what?

However, despite her trust issues, Hermione found that regardless of Slytherin or not, she couldn't just not help a fellow student. _Especially_ seeing as she was a prefect; she was practically morally obligated.

"Yeah I have that class next." Hermione said at length. "I can take you there."

Malik smiled a disarming smile that made Hermione take a second look. There was almost something dark about Malik, sort of like she noticed before…

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

Isis stood by a window in one of the many hallways of the school. She was only at the school to speak with the upper-level classes; the sixth and seventh year classes. Yet, there was also another reason why she was drawn to the magic school.

Bakura Ryou. There was something about her brother's friend that worried her. Something about him was off, similarly so to the time when the spirit of the Ring had possessed him. The worry was not helped with the fact that the Ring was currently unaccounted for- the only missing Millennium Item.

"Pharaoh…" Isis muttered, placing her fingertips lightly on the cool glass. "What would you do?"

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

Malik followed behind the bushy haired Gryffindor brunette that had introduced herself as Hermione. He had to admit that she was sort of cute, but not quite comparable to Ryou's sister…

Anyway, he was getting a kick out of this magic school. Malik was kind of glad that Isis had drug him along, because not only was it a kick to see all this magic, but he also got the shock of a lifetime; Ryou was here!

…With a twin sister he had never known about before. But, then again, Malik should've expected that shock. There was a lot he didn't know about Ryou. After all, when the evil kleptomaniac spirit of the Ring had inhabited Ryou's body, Malik hadn't really interacted with him. He had only interacted with Bakura, the Ring spirit.

Speaking of the Ring, Malik wondered where it was. It had been gone when the Tomb Keepers had raided the tomb for the Items before they were discovered by outsiders. Malik didn't like the idea of the Ring going back to Ryou, but by the looks of it, Ryou was still blissfully unaware that the Items had been excavated.

Malik wasn't certain if that was a good or a bad thing, but as long as Ryou wasn't worrying about the Ring spirit coming back and running rampant in his body, it would be fine.

"…you like Hogwarts?" Malik's attention signaled back into the brunette's frequency just in time to catch the tail end of her question.

"It's alright," Malik shrugged in response. He caught her studious look, as if she was scrutinizing him.

"Where did you go before coming to Hogwarts?" Hermione asked, and Malik decided that she was a little nosy. But, then again, with this Slytherin/Gryffindor rivalry he had heard about, maybe that wasn't a bad thing. She probably wanted to make sure he wasn't going to jump her or anything on the way to class.

"I was homeschooled," Malik shrugged in response. "'Sides, I don't really care about this stupid rivalry between Houses." Looking at Hermione, Malik could swear that he saw the girl reel back in shock.

"You don't?" She managed to ask without a stutter.

"Not really," Malik answered, placing his hands behind his head. "I mean, I'm all for healthy competition, but what I heard about the rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin, now that's hardcore." Hermione blinked studiously, absorbing the information like a sponge, and giving another question in the form of a statement.

"You sound like you've competed before." It was innocent enough, and had it been somebody else in Malik's shoes, maybe they would've spilled more than he had. But all he had said was,

"I game from time to time. But even then, all we do is psych each other out.*****" Psych each other out. Yeah right. And Battle City was one big, mad, tea party…

"I see…" Malik filed away in the back of his mind that he should avoid personal questions from Hermione. They had only been talking for a few minutes now, and she was already digging deeper than Yugi or the Pharaoh would've been. Then again, her methods were more roundabout than theirs too…

She would be brilliant as an interrogator. If Malik hadn't been suspicious of her suspecting something, he probably would've revealed more than Isis would like him too, and gotten into a pyramid full of trouble…******

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

Meanwhile, on the other side of the castle, Divination was just beginning. Harry, Ron, and the twins all sat around the same table with a tacky Christmas colored tablecloth and a crystal ball on the top.

"Good Afternoon class," Trelawney's voice echoed from her spot at the front of the class in their tower situated room. "This semester you will be learning palmistry*******."

"If we're learning palmistry then why are there these balls on the tables?" Ron hissed at Harry.

"Obviously from a different class," Amane hissed for Harry. "I doubt this is the only Divination class in the school."

"Now," Professor Trelawney was continuing as if the conversation never existed, "Open to page 37 of your copy of _Unfogging the Future_ and learn the meanings of the different palm lines and decipher your partner's life off their hand."

There were muted mutterings about the class as the books were pulled out, and flipped open to the correct page.

"Wanna be partners Harry?" Amane asked quickly, before Ryou or Ron could say anything. The three boys at the table blinked, and Ryou raised an eyebrow towards his sister, whose face tinged pink as she shook her head minutely.

"I mean, Ryou tells my fortune most of the time," She smiled. "I kinda want to see how someone who isn't a natural like him tells the future." Harry's face tinged a light pink as well, and he thumped his fist (hard) on Ron's kneecap as he started snickering.

"Alright," Harry agreed, taking Amane's palm.

"So I guess this means you and I are partners," Ryou said finally, looking at Ron. "So, do you want to go first or should I?" And all Ron could think was,

_Why did I get stuck with the bloody Slytherin?_

"Alright, my turn." Amane smiled, laughing as she reached out to take Harry's hand… and the bell rang.

"Maybe next time?" Harry asked, and Amane nodded.

"Sure," She replied, laughter still in her voice. "I really wanna see for myself what your life is like Harry. Not just from what the Tarot says."

"I didn't do that bad, did I?" Harry asked- Amane's laughter was from his abysmal palm reading. She had laughed practically the entire time he had made his attempt at reading her palms.

"You did fine Harry." Amane coughed lightly in her hand. "Honest. Not everybody is great their first time at palmistry. Or any of the types of fortune telling. I would be more upset if you simply lied to me instead of making an actual attempt." Harry's face colored scarlet, and he was suddenly glad that they were currently descending the ladder on their way out of the classroom, so Amane couldn't see his face.

"R-Right," He answered.

"Anyways," Amane trilled as Ron and Ryou came down next to them. "What about this rivalry between houses I've been hearing about?"

_**X.x.X.x.X **_

_**Snape… Snape… Severus Snape…**_

_**What are we going to do about you?**_

_**The Snake may know about your double agency, but I do not approve. Especially when you make it so blatantly obvious that you are scrutinizing the new students for the one that could possibly be the new 'informant' of his.**_

_**If he wanted you to know, he would tell you. If you keep snooping, I may have to leave you a warning. Then, after the warning, all bets are off…**_

_**Snape… Snape… Severus Snape…**_

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

***Yes, dodging the question. Quite the great, tactic, isn't it?**

****Malik grew up in Egypt, and didn't ride on a boat until Battle City and Memory World Arcs. So, he wouldn't have been yelled at for being in a 'boat load of trouble', he would've been yelled at for being in a 'pyramid full of trouble'. If you don't find it amusing, I am sorry. This is just my sense of humor…**

*****I know almost nothing on palmistry (like Tarot) so everything on it will be googled and/or made up. Alright? It will make sense to the plot though...**

So Isis knows something is up, Hermione doesn't trust the YGO kids, Malik's dismissive of the rivalry, and some chemistry is starting between Harry and Amane! ^_^ Next Chapter Shall be the twins' view on the rivalry, plus other stuff I'm not sure about yet... Probably Ancient Runes and protective brother stuff... ^_^

And the end, it was The Mysterious Ticking Noise from the Potter Puppet Pals! ^_^ Well, part of it, anyways.

How was it? Read, Review, and Let Me Know What You Think!  
_All flames will be fed to the Ninja Bunnehs en meh bes' friend's shark tank. Arigatou._

Ja ne~!

~~Paw-Chan Signing Out~~


	12. In Which The Curious Cat Suspects A Rat

OMG! Can it be? Not only another update, but one only a week after the last update? What is the world coming to? Jk. So, I posted the chapter last week, and then I decided, hey, I can save some time and stress if I write chapters and wait to post them! So, that's what I did. I Have up to Chapter 14 typed and finished, so this will be lasting you until hopefully the week of Christmas if I only post one a week. ^_^ And now, my review replies to my lovely readers! ^_^

_**xDarklightx:**_ Thanks! ^_^ I appreciate the review. And here's the update!

_**Phobias Athena:**_ Awww, don't you like my cliffies? Jk, I know none of you like them. Thanks for the review! ^_^ And I'm glad you like the story!

_**moonlightskymist:**_ Yeah, you will in the future. And in one of the previous chapters there was Ryou too with his Divination skills as well. Thanks for taking time to review! ^_^

_**Misting Rain: **_Well, you see Ron's reaction this Chapter! ^_^ And yeah, it was him at the end. I'm glad you liked the chapter and thanks for the review! ^_^

_**LightDarkandChaos:**_ Well, you find those kind of people in the world. With Ryou in Divination, I predict him doing very well, and seeing as I'm the writer, I'm probably write. ^_^ kukuku- I made a pun there. right-write? Get it? Ha-ha... yeah, it was lame... Thanks for the review though!

_**j bear:**_ That's funny. ^_^ I haven't seen the vid for it in a while, but I know that's how it starts off. Kitty Amane... Hmm... Kitty Ryou (seeing as they're twins)... Hmmm... Interesante... Thanks for the review!

_**Vi: **_Glad you like my story. I really enjoy writing it. You may be reading it in your room, yet, I am stuck writing it in my living room. Well, here's the next chapter! Thanks for reviewing!

_**mishirosan:**_ Go with your japanese course then. I'm just saying that that's what I know the word to mean. Yet, I am not the ultimate Japanese speaker, so go with you Jap course. But in here it is just plain brother. I apologize in advance if it is going to bother you, but for the record, it isn't going to appear that often anyway in future chaps anyways... Thanks for the review!

_**Blagk: **_...Alright then. Thanks for reviewing. u-.-

_**Shayala:**_ Yeah... Well the letter thing was just to deliberately annoy their mom ('cuz to be honest, I deliberately annoy my mom from time to time.) And yeah, Amane is going to get less in future chapters as we see more from Ryou and Malik. Amane in the beginning was really to get her character set up so she wouldn't be introduced and then ignored for chapters to come until she really had her part in it. Thanks for the review and the CC. I appreciate it when CC is phrased like you phrased it! ^_^

_**Uchiha Kiara:**_ Thanks! ^_^ I really appreciate you saying that. Thank you for reviewing.

_**justarandomNightWorldfan:**_ Yeah, I agree. That's why I slipped it in there. Yet, you will see other pairings pop out. ^)^ Thank you for reviewing!

Thank you all for reviewing! You do not understand how much I appreciate you all for taking time out of your busy (or not busy) lives to read this. It means a lot to me, especially seeing as I'm pretty sure I don't have a very good grade in my English class... (I'm blaming the book we're reading and the fact that our interpretations aren't really our interpretations, they're what the teacher and Spark Notes interpret it as...)

And, one of the kids in my class was found out to be using Spark Notes on the book and we made a Spark Note flower out of it while he was in the bathroom. ^_^

I digress though. Enjoy the Chapter! ^_^

\Bakura to Ryou\

/Ryou to Bakura/

_[Yes, I know I changed it... I didn't like it the other way...]_

**Disclaimer: I only own the story idea. Everything else belongs to their respective owners.**

_The Rat scurried across the market place as fast as he could. He had seen one of the palace cats lazing about, but he felt certain that she was going to corner him as soon as she could. And it wasn't just any palace cat that was lazing about- it was __**that**__ one. The Curious Cat. While the other cats contented themselves to what the Rat supposed cats did, the Curious Cat was always sticking her nose where it didn't belong._

_Pausing a moment, the Rat watched as a shadow that wasn't his loom over him. He reacted instantly, darting to the left, as the Curious Cat pounced where he had been moments earlier. The Rat couldn't help but to stop and laugh at the Curious Cat._

"_Better luck next time!" He laughed, disappearing through a rat hole in the nearest building._

**Chapter 12: In Which The Curious Cat Suspects A Rat**

"Sounds pretty hardcore for a rivalry," Ryou commented finally once Ron and Harry had finished their explanation on the Gryffindor-Slytherin rivalry. "I didn't think people would go _that_ far to win."

\And all Shadow Games are are little girls putting on dresses and having tea parties.\ Bakura snorted in the back of Ryou's mind.

/Yami!/ Ryou whined plaintively in their shared mind. /You know what I meant!/

"I think it sounds fun," Amane shrugged from her spot between Harry and Ryou.

"Fun?" Ron echoed, disbelieving, and Amane nodded.

"Yeah. At Beauxbatons all houses were against one another." She explained. "It was all you could do to protect your classmates and friends. You could barely go a class period without having a hex-attempt made on you. We're a pretty vindictive bunch over there- 'specially with all the Veela."

"So you're all for the rivalry?" Ron asked, and Amane nodded.

"Sure, why not?" Amane answered.

"What about you mate?" Ron asked, looking over at Ryou. "Are you for it too?" Ryou shook his head.

"Nah," He replied. "I don't much care for rivalries like this one." /But you probably think it's funny./

\And what if I do?\ Bakura snarked back.

"'Like this one?'" Harry asked. "What do you mean?"

"W-Well," Ryou said, suddenly nervous. "I happen to game. The rivalries there happen to be quite…" Ryou struggled to find the right word. "Something." Saying that reminded Ryou just how oddly he missed it when Bakura made snide remarks about Yugi's Yami every other minute.

"Gaming? How bad can that be?" Ron snorted.

"You'd be surprised," A voice popped up from the side, causing Ron to jump.

It was Hermione and Malik, Malik grinning mischievously- it was obviously he who had spoken.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked in turn for his friend who had decided glaring at the blond Slytherin would be a wonderful idea.

"Just that," Malik shrugged. "The rivalries between some people in the gaming world are intense. You wouldn't believe what we've seen~ ne Ryou?"*****

"Right," Ryou nodded, the two ignoring the confused looks from the other four.

The clock chimed the hour, and Malik started, as if he remembered something.

"That's right," He said, "Ryou, I need to talk to you about something later."

And the glow in his lavender eyes and the tone of his voice told Ryou and Bakura that he knew.

_But how?_

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

The two stood in an empty classroom that evening after supper. They stood across from each other, eyeing each other with indistinguishable emotions swirling in their eyes.

/How did he figure it out? It's only been two days…/

\Your sister probably told him, brat. I knew you shouldn't have trusted her.\

/Yami! Amane wouldn't do that…/ But Ryou wasn't even convincing himself. Could his sister really have ratted him out? Why would she do that to him? He trusted her!

Then, at once, they both started speaking, their voices intermingling over one anothers.

"Look Ryou, about the Items-"

"Malik, I wanted to tell you-"

They both stopped short, words dying on their lips, eyeing the other with confusion evident in both sets of eyes.

"What?" They asked together, before going on in unison in this fashion. "You first. No you." They both sighed, aggravated.

"Malik, you go first," Ryou said, an odd tone about his voice that made him (Ryou) wonder if it was really him talking, or if it was Bakura.

"Alright…" Malik hesitated, before looking towards the door, as if checking to make sure that they were truly alone. "Well-"

But Malik was cut off as the door was opened and a girl from Ravenclaw popped her head into the room.

"Hey you two," She snapped in a bossy tone that made Ryou believe that she was either a prefect or Head Girl, "Curfew is in five minutes. If you don't want detention I'd recommend going back to the dungeons. Now."

Ryou smiled sympathetically as the girl tapped her foot impatiently, holding the door open. It was obvious that she wasn't going to leave until they left.

"We can always talk later." He offered, and Malik snorted stomping past.

'_Yeah,_' He grumbled. '_Later._'

\Yandounishi, why do you have to be such a wimp?\ Bakura snarled. \What if what Malik had to say to us was important?\ Ryou sighed.

/Yami, you do realize that we are in the same house as Malik, right?/ Ryou asked. /If it's really important, Malik will probably tell us in the morning./

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

"I'm telling you mate, Ryou's bloody weird!" Ron protested as soon as Amane had retired for the night. (He figured it was wise not to talk about the girls' brother while she was present.)

"Come now Ron, he isn't that bad." Hermione scolded him. "What could possibly be wrong with him?"

"We were in Divination today," Ron started, Hermione scoffing at the mere mention of the subject, "And we're starting palmistry. I had to be his _partner_." The last part was a moan.

"So?" Hermione asked patiently. "What was so wrong about being his partner?"

"Well," Ron said. "He stared at my hand for five minutes, then he looked at me with these freaky red looking eyes and told me I would see a ring and die seven days later."******

"Honestly Ronald," Hermione started before hesitating a moment, something crossing her mind. "Don't you think he might've been kidding?"

"Kidding? 'Mione, who kids about someone dying?" Ron snapped back. Hermione huffed and rolled her eyes.

"You can be so childish," She huffed, gathering her stuff up and stalking her cat-like way up the stairs.

Ron spluttered from his spot in the arm chair, while Harry watched her go with a small thoughtful look on his face.

Snapping the curtains shut to her bed, Hermione fell back clutching her pillow.

Red eyes?

Ryou's were brown, like Amane's…

None of this added up…

Ryou and Amane had seemed _normal_ enough when they first met, but now… Along with the Malik Ishtal… None of this was making sense…

Red eyes…

Black eyes…

Odd behavior…

Evasive…

Sadistic smirk…

_Red and Black eyes…_

_Odd and Evasive behavior…_

_Sadistic looking smirk…_

_**Red and Black eyes with odd and evasive behavior and a sadistic looking smirk…**_

_**Just who (or what) are these transfers?**_

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

_[B O N U S _ S C E N E] __*******_

"Oh, blimey," Ron muttered to himself. "How could I get into this mess?"

"Trust me Weasel, I don't want to be in this situation either." Malfoy snapped back.

"Smile Darcy!" Ryou and Amane laughed, a camera light flashing as Harry and Hermione shook their heads in distaste as Malik laughed in the background.

\I can't believe you two did that to your own cousin,\ Bakura grinned. Maybe there was hope for his yandounishi. Maybe.

What, you're asking, exactly was the commotion?

Ron and Malfoy were handcuffed together.

How, you might ask?

That's something we'll never know how it happened. (Though it's most likely a product of the twins' boredom)

What we do know, is that the pictures found their way to every seat in the Great Hall the next morning, and everybody was talking about it for the next month to come.

_[E N D _ B O N U S _ S C E N E]_

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

***This is a personality quirk I imagine Malik has. If he doesn't, then he now has it. (Sorry, I'm too lazy to check right now…) (Ne means right/alright in Japanese as far as I know, but I 'm just viewing it as personality quirk...)**

******_**The Ring**_** reference, anybody? :-D**

*****Because I felt I was being really mean to you guys. (This was supposed to be the unseen scene of Ryou reading Ron's palm, but then a picture entered my head, and I decided to narrate that instead. [Please Note That This Scene Didn't Really Occur \Well, at this point in time, anyways… ;-)/])**

So, how was the chappie? A bit on the short side, I know, but you got a bonus scene! That has to count for something, right?

...Yeah I know... But if any of you are RonxMalfoy lovers, you gotta like that implication, right? No? (_Okay, 'cuz I just made up that pairing on the spot...)_

So, you know the deal~ Read, Review, and I will see you in one week! (Yes, I know, before I couldn't promise one week, but I swear! I have two more chapters done! Pregunta la amiga mia, sabe... I mean, ask my friend, she knows!)

Read and Review!

~~Paw-Chan Signing Out~~

P.S.~ I love you all! ^_^


	13. Musings From Around The Table

I would like to start off by saying: I'm Sorry. I'm 97 percent certain that I have offended you all in one way or another, so I am saying right now, I am sorry. I never meant to offend you or hurt your feelings. I am a terrible introvert with no real sense of how to treat people, so I am sorry if I offended you guys in anyway.

It was never my intention to insult you. I love you guys; I seriously do. If it weren't for you guys, this story would still be on Chapter 2. Trust me. Obsessive and Annoying Reviewers I love because they make me want to write, and not leave my work rotting in my documents for forever and a day.

So, I am sorry for however I wronged you. I didn't mean it, I promise.

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or Harry Potter...**

_The Snake hissed angrily as he slithered behind the scuttling Scorpion. He was sick of hearing his evasive tunes. He wanted his meal now! Even if it meant that the Snake had to settle for the Scorpion, he didn't care._

_That Scorpion. The Snake was betting that he was being lied to- that he was going to be gotten rid of at the soonest convenience to the small bug._

_But that was alright. Because even if he was ditched, he would kill that Scorpion. Even if he did get that Rat he was allegedly 'promised'._

**Chapter 13: Musings From Around The Table**

Mid-October. Dumbledore personally could not believe that the school year was off to such a fast start this year. So far, all was going well, and the only thing that was worrisome was how many detentions the students were accumulating from Dolores.

But, then again, he should have expected it. Most of the ones who were receiving such detentions were the upper year students who didn't appreciate the thought of doing a theory course instead of a practical course.

The Fifth Years especially were protesting. They have their O.W.L.s this year, and Dumbledore knew that they were most likely pitching a fit mainly because they weren't getting the practice they needed for the practical part of the exams.

Unfortunately, though, his hands were tied. Dumbledore could not force Dolores to change her lesson plans, despite the fact that she was under his employ. It was morally right to force her to change her plans. The only thing to do was to stand back and see how the students figured to handle this situation.

And how interesting that would be….

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

He knew. That was the only thing Ryou was worrying about now. No- he should make it that _they_ knew. _They_ both knew, even if they knew different information.

Ryou was almost absolutely certain that Malik knew that he had the Millennium Ring once more. That's why he had wanted to talk to him the second day they had been at Hogwarts. Luckily, Malik seemed to have forgotten the want to have a conversation with him, and Ryou found himself lucky that he didn't have to let Malik know that he had the Millennium Ring quite yet, though he knew that Malik would most likely be extremely angry with him once he found out.

The other person that knew was Bakura. Ryou was positive that his yami had found out about how awful he was feeling, but his yami hadn't pressed him about it once within these past two weeks. And so he wasn't going to bother him about it. If Bakura wanted to know, he'd harass him about it, and not a moment earlier.

That's right… Besides, it wasn't like his yami really cared anyways…

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

Her mind was a ticking bomb without any of the answers she needed. Hermione could not stand how she was missing information on the twins' and Malik. Nothing about them was adding up.

Nothing she found in the library helped her either. The only real thing she had to go off of them was that Amane loved competition, Ryou liked Divination, and Malik's sister was the only reason he was here. That, and the fact that they all seemed to good at Ancient Runes for their age.

Malik's intelligence on the subject was predictable- he grew up in Egypt, and his sister was a guest at Hogwarts for the subject- it would only make sense that he knew about Ancient Runes.

The twins on the other hand, yes, their father was an archaeologist, but that made no sense on how they knew so much on the subject. The way they acted on the topic made it seem like they had lived during the time the Ancient Runes weren't Ancient Runes.

Nothing made sense…

She had heard from a couple of the upper level Ancient Runes students though that Isis's lessons and speaking covered a time period of the Ancient Runes in Ancient Egypt called the 'Great Gap' and that there were strange games played…

Malik and Ryou both expressed that they gamed before…

That was as good a place as any to start.

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

There was a voice. It was murmuring at the back of her head. She couldn't make it stop, but she wanted it to. It was always murmuring, muttering dark stuff. Telling her to do stuff.

She thought it to be a spirit. It had to be, though she hadn't a clue how she could pick one up. How did one get possessed by spirits, anyways? It was most troublesome… Imagine if someone found out…

She could get in a lot of trouble. She'd probably be taken away; the Ministry didn't like dealing with the cases of possessed people. She'd be taken away to the sanitarium ward of St. Mungos- the ward for all the crazies and possessed wizards and witches of the Britain area. And she didn't want that...

She had decided she would exorcise it herself.

It shouldn't be too hard, should it? Besides, Halloween was coming up, and that seemed to be the best time to rid herself of the spirit. Halloween night with a Harvest Moon.

Yes. That was it. She would prepare herself for Halloween night when she would rid herself of this spirit that was murmuring nasty things in the back of her head.

The Halloween Night with the Harvest Moon.

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

It was funny. More than humorous, really. Almost hysterical. The girl thought she could actually get rid of him? No, no. It wasn't that easy to get rid of him; the other brat had tried every trick in the book and he couldn't get rid of him, so why did she believe that she could get rid of him? She couldn't, however humorous her attempt.

Yet, this could be worth his while… The wrong page and the exorcism spell could be turned into a summoning one… It was always worth a try…

And she was using _the_ book. Which he had yet to find time to deposit with the Snake… But, this could work to his advantage…

Yes, this could all work to his advantage…

Yes, it could…

_**Kukuku…**_

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

_There once was a boy,  
His family died before his eyes.  
After their deaths, he knew not what to do,  
And slowly he became lost in his lies.  
__Thievery became his path to life;__  
__Anything to overcome his hardship and strife._

_In the future then one day he met,  
In the market place a curious looking stranger.  
He was an odd sort of person, a thief like the boy,  
And from him, the young thief could sense the danger.  
__The stranger offered him a proposition;__  
__Talking and smiling with a cheery disposition__._

_It was a game of sorts, the stranger told him;  
And the rules were clear and straightforward to follow.  
All the boy had to do was sneak into the castle,  
Through a part of the wall that was hollow.  
__The boy was told it was to visit the king lying,__  
__On his bed as he was slowly withering and dying__._

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

And that's Chapter 13! ^_^ Another filler of sorts, but fret not my readers! For, next Chapter, Chapter 14, is when it really picks up! ^_^ And, because I love you guys, Here's a preview:

_It was Isis Ishtal; the guest speaker for the upper years' Ancient Runes classes. She had been a source of information, but Hermione had been putting off talking to her because she was not only a teacher, and would most likely inform Dumbledore of her suspicions, but she was also Malik's sister. And siblings often told one another what they heard about them..._

_Hermione knew she was being childish, but she didn't have any concrete evidence for her suppositions yet. She wanted to be absolutely sure that she was right before it was leaked to any teachers. Otherwise, there could be a whole fiasco off of her suppositions that could possibly be incorrect..._

_"It's got to be here somewhere…" Hermione muttered, her and Harry hunched over underneath the Invisibility Cloak so their feet would show. They had only been looking for a half an hour, but they still hadn't found the book yet. It hadn't been in the first section they had checked, so Hermione and Harry were both hoping fervently that it would turn up soon, lest they get found out..._

And with that, I am going to give you the norm:

Read, Review, And Tell Me What You Think!

~~Paw-Chan Signing Out~~


	14. The Cat Finds A Butterfly

Heyy... Sorry I didn't update yesterday... I kinda got grounded from all things electronically for three days... But, I'm updating now! So you, can, uh, you know. Put those pointy objects away... Ya know, before your authoress gets poked a little too hard by one of them...?

Anyways, Meppy Chrismahannakwanzika! (Or, just plain Merry/Happy Christams/Hannakuh/Kwanza) Seeing as the next time I will see you guys is the 27th!

Yup, so this is chappie 14, combined with chappie 15 ('cuz I felt 14 was a little short...) Have fun because the action starts this chapter! ^_^

**Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or Harry Potter.**

'…_**The Cat picks the Rat, the Cat picks the Rat, high-ho the dairy-o, the Cat picks the Rat...**__'_

_The Cat sat, waiting patiently for the Rat. He hadn't reappeared yet, but she knew that it was simply a matter of time. And, if there was another hole the Rat slipped out of, then the Cat would just patiently wait until the Rat reappeared. I wouldn't matter, she was a patient cat._

_A very patient Cat._

**Chapter 14: The Curious Cat Finds an All-Seeing Butterfly**

The first Hogsmeade trip was coming up, and alongside it, a plan for a DADA group so students could actually learn something, instead of just what Umbridge was simpering around in classes. But that wasn't what Hermione was focused on the late fall afternoon in the library.

Classes were done for the week, but for Hermione, the learning was just starting. The mystery around the three were still there, if even more so than usual. As of right now, Hermione was pouring over all the books she could find related to Ancient Egypt; so far that was her most concrete lead.

Pushing away another useless book, Hermione sighed and buried her head in her arms on the table. So far, she hadn't found anything of use yet!

"Having trouble, are we Miss Granger?" Hermione lifted her head, trying not to show her surprise at the sudden appearance of a voice (for she had been the sole inhabitant of the library, last she had known.)

It was Isis Ishtal; the guest speaker for the upper years' Ancient Runes classes. She had been a source of information, but Hermione had been putting off talking to her because she was not only a teacher, and would most likely inform Dumbledore of her suspicions, but she was also Malik's sister. And siblings often told one another what they heard about them (not that Hermione had any real first-hand experience with this, seeing as she was an only child.)

"A-A little, Miss Ishtal," Hermione answered a little nervously, closing one or two of the books, her eyes never leaving the Egyptian.

"You can call me Isis," Isis answered with a small smile, eyeing the books littering the table. "You've been researching Ancient Egypt." It was a statement, not a question, and it jostled Hermione a little with the knowing tone in her voice.

"Tell Miss Granger," Isis asked. "What about Ancient Egypt has you so curious? I know your Ancient Runes class hasn't reached that time period yet." Her tone wasn't ice, but it was suspicious.

"Well," Hermione paused, trying to tell Isis without telling Isis. However, before she could ask anything, Isis spoke.

"It's about my brother, isn't it?" It wasn't disappointed, just curious. "Him and the Bakuras'." Hermione blinked, astonished.

"Y-Yes," She replied, her tone a bit shameful and afraid. "Th-There's been something a bit worrisome about the three. The twins' in particular…" Hermione hesitated, wondering if she should tell Isis or not. Really, she hadn't even told Harry or Ron yet, because she wanted to be absolutely sure.

"What about them are worrisome?" Isis asked, taking a seat next to Hermione.

"Well…" Hermione stopped, not completely convinced she should tell Isis. There was always a chance that she would go off and tell Dumbledore, or Malik (who, in turn, was most likely to tell Ryou, and inevitably Amane…) "If I tell, will you promise not to tell anybody?"

Hermione knew she was being childish, but she didn't have any concrete evidence for her suppositions yet. She wanted to be absolutely sure that she was right before it was leaked to any teachers. Otherwise, there could be a whole fiasco off of her suppositions that could possibly be incorrect.

"Not a soul." Isis smiled sincerely, but a small shiver ran down Hermione's back unconsciously at the way Isis said the word soul. Almost as if she knew something herself…

"I think they're possessed- well, I mean, being possessed. The twins- I mean, at least one of them." Hermione said breathlessly at last, and Isis blinked calmly, showing no outward emotion on her face, only a pondering expression.

"Is that so?" Isis inquired. "What makes you think that?"

"Earlier this month," Hermione explained, "I remember seeing Amane leaving the library with books on possession. Then, a few days later with books on exorcism- how to exorcise a spirit, to be precise. Not to mention that both of them act weird on occasion."

"That is quite observant Miss Granger," Isis admitted respectfully. "However, couldn't these also be explained a bit more logically? Miss Bakura with the books on spirits- could that not account with one having a fascination in the subject? I know for a fact that her brother has a small fascination with the subject. And as for the odd behavior, can't that be accounted for the twins sharing secrets that they don't want you to know?" Hermione bit her lip, and nodded. She had in fact entertained those exact ideas. Yet, there was one more thing that didn't fit into the equation.

"But there's something else," Hermione's voice was barely even a whisper.

"And what is that?" Isis asked, entertaining the child once more. Truly, behind her calm façade, Isis was worried. If what Hermione was saying was in fact correct, then she may have found the location of the missing Millennium Ring…

"Their eyes…" She murmured, recalling what had been said the second day at Hogwarts, and her own experiences since then.

Despite personality similarities, there had been strain in voices, as if they were _forcing _themselves to appear more realistic. As if they were actors playing roles, and not the actual people… True the twins were able to switch places, but this wasn't the same as a girl acting as a boy or a boy acting as girl…

"The twins' eye color is the same," Hermione spoke, not giving Isis a chance to interrupt. "However, there are times, when their eyes aren't their normal color… Instead of their normal brown they aren't… They're black… or red…" Hermione's tone was not one of disbelief or worry, as if she was afraid she wouldn't be believed, but it was one of pondering. As if she knew she was correct yet she didn't have enough information to piece everything together.

"I see…" Isis murmured. "Is that why you were researching Ancient Egypt, Miss Granger?" She needed to know how much Hermione had figured out. It could be problematic if she knew too much on certain subject matter.

"Sort of…" Hermione's attitude did a one-eighty, going from confident to nervous in one shot. "I mean…" Why did Hermione want to know of Ancient Egypt anyways?

It had seemed a good idea at first, but looking over now, it seemed to have no relation to her current problem. The only link was…

"Games…" Hermione muttered aloud, unthinkingly.

"Games?" Isis asked, curious. "What about them?" Hermione started, she hadn't even realized she had spoken!

"Ah, well," Hermione floundered a little. "Ryou and Malik had both expressed an interest in games, and I heard from upper classes that in your lectures on Ancient Egypt, you speak of a time period where the Egyptian people played games." Isis smiled, nodding her head.

"Yes, I do." She confirmed. "However, the subject matter I speak of is one that is not recorded in the history books. What I speak of is information passed down my family, and most of the written records have been destroyed. If there is any information on the topic left recorded, it wouldn't be left in the student access area. It would be a restricted book." Hermione nodded.

"Okay. Thank you, Isis," Hermione thanked the older woman as she gathered up her books. This meant that she would have to tell Harry and Ron, and soon. Hermione wasn't completely convinced that she could trust Isis, which meant that she needed to make her suspicions known to Harry and Ron immediately, because she had a feeling whatever book that had the information Isis was talking about in the Restricted Section was about to pull a vanishing act.

And Hermione wouldn't let that happen.

Not when there was so much more that she needed to learn.

After all, what was a Cat without irritating the Butterfly a little?

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

_[A/N: I was originally going to stop here, but then I decided to combine this Chapter and Chapter 15. Have fun! ^_^]_

"And that's everything," Hermione finished breathlessly, staring at Ron and Harry across the table separating them in the Gryffindor Common Room. It was completely empty, and it was lacking a certain conversation topic, thankfully. At the end of her explanation, the boys blinked, and Harry was the first to fully understand what exactly Hermione was talking about.

"I think I understand," Harry said at long last, and Hermione smiled, pleased. "So you're saying that you think one of them is possessed?"

"Or both," Hermione nodded. "And from the sounds of it what we need to completely prove it is the book on Ancient Egypt that is in the Restricted Section."

"So you need the invisibility cloak to get into the Restricted Section after hours," Harry deduced, before grinning. "Wow, that's un-prefect like you, 'Mione." Hermione blushed, shaking her head.

"No-! I mean…" Hermione stuttered, trying to defend her case, before resigning defeat. "Yes… But, that's only because something is up- with the twins, and with Miss Ishtal and Malik. They all seem to be hiding something- something that could be dangerous." Harry nodded.

"We can go tonight," He agreed. "But the cloak won't be able to hide us all. Hermione why don't you st…" Hermione shook her head.

"No," She cut off Harry. "I'm the only one who knows what we're looking for. I have to go along; otherwise you and Ron would be looking for it all night."

"Alright," They conceded.

"We'll leave at eleven thirty."

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

"_Ryou, I'll be honest, I wouldn't be asking this of you if there was another way."_

"_Ask what of me?" Ryou asked, looking at Malik confused as he perched himself upon an empty desk._

"_I need your help," Malik admitted, and Ryou gave a gentle laugh._

"_You don't need to be embarrassed to ask me for help Malik," Ryou smiled. "That's what friends are for, isn't it?" There was an awkward silence for a moment. "Well, what do you need my help for?"_

"_There's something I need to tell you," Malik admitted._

"_What is it?" Ryou asked, curious. What did Malik need to tell him?_

"_Will you promise not to freak out when I tell you?" Malik implored, and Ryou nodded slowly, feeling a little nervous._

"_Yeah, what is it?" Ryou repeated, feeling a short burst of pride at the fact that his voice didn't waver._

"_You see, the Items…" Malik hesitated, unsure if he should really be telling Ryou. He shook his head- he had to tell Ryou. Part of it was for his own safety. If the Ring was still out there, it could make its way back to Ryou, somehow. And malik didn't want that to happen to his friend._

"_What about the Items, Malik?" Ryou inquired. What was going on?_

"_The Items have been excavated," Malik sighed, and Ryou blinked. They had been excavated?_

_Maybe that was how the Ring made it back to him…_

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this…"

\I can't believe you're actually doing this willingly.\

Ryou sighed, shaking his head lightly as he and Malik crept silently down the hallway. Malik needed his help in order to get some sort of book from the _Restricted _Section of the library. He had said something along the lines of a magik***** that could only be used by Shadow Mage dealing primarily in stealth magiks. And then Malik had said something along the lines of the fact that Ryou may not know how to cast the spell, but he knew how to and the only reason he couldn't use it was the fact that his body and magic wasn't trained for the magik style that the spell required.

But, obviously Ryou fit the bill, seeing as Bakura back when he was 'around' (for Malik still doesn't know that Bakura is back) used the style of magik required for stealth a lot.

/Don't sound so appalled,/ Ryou sniped back, /We _both_ know you wanted me to do this./ Bakura smirked.

\That still does not change my shock, yandounishi.\ Bakura tsked, an amused note in his voice. \I never knew such a goody-goody like you was capable of theft.\

Ryou sighed and rolled his eyes, before freezing. Malik, not expecting Ryou to stop so unexpectedly, rammed into his back.

/Did you hear that Yami?/ Ryou asked, and Bakura made a noise of affirmation.

\Yeah. We're not alone in here.\ Bakura agreed.

"Shush," Ryou shushed Malik, who had opened his mouth to protest. "We're not the only ones out after hours."

Malik shut his mouth immediately, and thankful he had brought Ryou along. Being the reincarnation of a thief, it gave him a huge advantage. If something was coming, Ryou was most likely to hear it, along with the magick passed down to him from being the Thief Lords' reincarnation. One was the magick to hide away in shadows in plain sight, and the other was a tag along magick to the former; you could be hidden in plain sight and view other objects hidden in plain sight. Ones that may or may not be hidden by the same magick as the former.

They moved silently, creeping past the Tabby cat that was Mrs. Norris, with gleaming amber eyes. Malik looked, and could see no one that Ryou heard. The only thing could have been Mrs. Norris, but Malik couldn't be certain if somebody else was invisible as well.

"Who's the other person here?" Malik whispered.

"I'm not sure," Ryou whispered back. "I'm certain they're there, however I can't see them. Something must be keeping them from our sight…"

And as they walked, Malik could've sworn he heard a cricket chirping…

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

"It's got to be here somewhere…" Hermione muttered, her and Harry hunched over underneath the Invisibility Cloak so their feet would show. They had only been looking for a half an hour, but they still hadn't found the book yet. It hadn't been in the first section they had checked, so Hermione and Harry were both hoping fervently that it would turn up soon, lest they get found out.

The sound of something being rammed into a shelf jarred Harry and Hermione into awareness of their surroundings, and they looked up just in time to see two very familiar faces pop into existence out of thin air.

"Dammit! You gotta warn me before you do that baka! That hurt!" Malik yelped as he popped into existence, a worn out Ryou appearing slumped next to him, tiredness visible around him.

"Alright," Ryou huffed, breath coming out uneven. "Next time _you_ use stealth magick without proper training for _half an hour_ and tell me how you feel." Malik laughed nervously, raising hands in defense. Hermione and Harry gave each other curious looks, and came to the same agreement without saying a word; they would wait for the two to find the book for them.

With any luck, they'd be able to find out more about these two.

"Ne~ you win," Malik answered sheepishly. "But I honestly had no one else to ask! You're the only one who can use stealth magick in this school, and Isis would bury me in one of the tombs alive if I didn't retrieve the book before that Gryffindor Girl found a way to get it."

"I know," Ryou puffed tiredly, head slumping against his shoulder, eyes straining wide, as if he was forcing himself to stay awake. "J-Just find it so we can leave. I don't want us to get caught. It's bad enough to be stealing from a library- the Restricted Section no less. Why we could get Isis to write us a permission slip for I don't know…"

"It's because that hawk of a librarian would surely remember us _and_ the book we took out." Malik explained simply, making his way down the aisle, his voice never raising a single decibel. "As well as the book we wouldn't return."

"True," Ryou muttered in reply as Malik made it to the end of the aisle, mere inches away from the spot where Harry and Hermione were currently standing.

They were amazed; how could Ryou hear Malik, when they could barely hear him and he was two inches from them.

"Here it is," Malik said finally, plucking a pitch black book from the shelf. It had nothing on the cover except for a golden eye that seemed to pierce into your very soul. Once Malik was a good few feet from them, Harry whispered to Hermione,

"How are we going to get the book?"

"I have a plan," Hermione whispered back, before whispering it to Harry. He nodded, and the two crept around the aisle, and Hermione slipped out from underneath the Invisibility Cloak.

Pulling out her wand, she took a deep breath. She was nervous, truly. She had only researched the spell, and conducted a few spells on some fruit. Never something living. And now she was doing it.

On herself.

Picking up her wand, she lifted it, before cracking it over her own head…

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

"'Oi," Malik whispered in the snoozing Ryou's ear. "Wake up. We need to go." Ryou only mumbled something in response, and Malik sighed dramatically, rolling his eyes. Staring at the sleeping Ryou though, he felt a stab of pity.

It was his fault that Ryou was so worn out after all… But, then again, he was the one who had expressed that he would rather not get into trouble, and that was what was going to happen if he didn't wake up.

So, Malik leaned towards Ryou's face, getting ready to shout as loudly as he could without arising suspicion to wake the sleeping teen up.

What Malik was not expecting though, was the high pitched girl-type scream to meet his ears. And it seemed that he wasn't the only one to not expect it as Ryou's head jerked up unexpectedly. Then, before either one knew what was happening after the scream, their lips met.

They both jumped back instantly, Ryou's head slamming into the bookshelf he had been leaning against, and Malik flailing his arms behind himself so that the book flew from his hands.

"Damn it…" 'Ryou' breathed, his eyes flashing colors. Yet, he soon gasped, drawing Malik's attention, and he pointed in the direction that Malik had thrown the book. All ideas of a quick escape flew from their heads as they stared.

It was the book Malik had dropped, floating in midair, as if being held by someone.

_What the Hell…?_

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

***Magic can be spelled with a 'c' at the end or with a 'k' attached to said 'c'. I'm using the two different spellings to differentiate between the two types of magic. I won't reveal the types of magic [for they're going to be revealed later on] , but I'm certain you all are going to figure it out anyways.**

So, how was this chapter? Good, I hope... [And so you know, with the two magic's, you will see the regular spelling more than the other...]

You know the routine by now. Pick up that pretty flag called Mouse, throw it to your partner Review Button, and tell me how it went! ^_^

~~Paw-Chan Signing Out~~


	15. The Amusement of A Cat's 'Ghost'

Heyy! Paw-Chan back from Holidays, and I'm hoping yours are better than mine are right now! (Stupid sister... Always pickin fights and trying to get me to do stuff for her... It's just a stupid oven! It's not that hard to work...) I'm back with the 3rd multiple of 5 for you lovely readers of _Spider and The Fly_, and for those of you who aren't very good at math (which there probably aren't any) we're on chapter 15 out of 100~~~! (Really? Probably not. But one can dream, can't they?) (And, honestly, we're probably at the halfway point- I can't see the story going past 30 chaps, however possible it may be... Hmm... (ideas...))

Paw-Chan got all sorts of neat toys! Like Sonic Colors for her DS (I still don't understand the point...) And An eReader! (I'm not quite used to Fanfics mobile edition...)

Enough of my rambling! I know you all are eager to see how Bakura and Malik react to the scream!

[And for those of you reacting between the kiss last chapter, I always find those sorts of kisses hilarious. Why? I'm sadistic that's why No, I actually thought it fit, especially with the opportunity of a bit of MalikxRyou. So, for those of you who like it, you're welcome, those of you who don't, I'm sorry?]

On with Chapter 15~! ^_^

_Warning: A character that is most likely heavily out of character. Who? You'll find out..._

**Disclaimer: Could it be? Did I really recieve the rights and ownerships of both Harry Potter _and_ Yu-Gi-Oh for Christmas? ... No, I sadly did not. I still do not own either book or manga/anime.**

_Now, the Rat himself did not believe in ghosts- well, at least, he wasn't afraid of them. One wasn't allowed to be afraid when they skulked about in tombs and other sorts of places were the dead lay. Yet, that did not stop the shock that the Rat felt whenever he came across a ghost- or a kindred spirit to the specter. Ghosts, ghouls, spirits, they were all very rare. Only powerful hate or an attachment to the previous world would leave the spirit behind. That or the person was just not ready to move on (although that happened very rarely.)_

**Chapter 15: The Amusement of a Cat's 'Ghost'**

"What the hell?" Malik yelped, all previous intentions of keeping from getting caught disappearing as he watched the book float in mid-air. Last time he checked, books did not float in mid-air of their own accord. Same with random screaming.

"A ghost?" Bakura said, standing up. A girl's voice giggled.

"Hee-hee~!" The girl laughed. "You two shouldn't be stealing from a library~! Especially after hours~!"

"C-Can you give us the book back please?" Malik asked. He was terribly afraid of ghosts- well not ghosts, per se, but of spirits- their kindred spirits. It was mostly thanks to his malevolent yami, but the fear was still there.

"No!" The girl shot back in a child-like tone. "Why should I~?" Malik sighed, and Bakura rolled their eyes. This girl had to be eleven with how she was acting. An eleven year old that died in the school.

"Please?" Ryou asked nicely. "That book is very important to us." The book bobbed a little from side to side, as if the girl was thinking about it.

"Nuh-uh~!" She shot back. "I bet you two don't even _like_ books. I bet you're just stealing this book because your Slytherin friends dared you to!"

Malik and Ryou were at a loss for words, trying to think of something to say as the girls' voice rose as if in anger.

"I won't let you hurt any of the books in _my_ library!" She wailed, half in anger, half upset. Then, without warning, she disappeared down the aisle behind her.

Bakura and Ryou listened to her padded footsteps for a moment, and Malik froze, before the two actually moved and started after the ghostly girl.

_If she's a ghost, then why does she make the sound of footsteps when she moves…?_

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

Harry was waiting for Hermione as she came sprinting in to the regular area of the library. He watched as the book, floating in mid-air, was dropped to the ground and kicked in his direction (Harry knew that it probably hurt Hermione a lot to kick a book). And Harry was ready to hide the book underneath the invisibility cloak as soon as it came near him.

However, right as the book slid towards him, Ryou and Malik slid into the area.

"There it is!" Malik yelped, just as the book slid right past Harry and he had no time to catch it. He dove for it once more, but missed as the book ricocheted off the wall towards a book shelf. Harry took this opportunity to stick his foot out and trip the blond, sending him sprawling to the ground.

"Idiot," Bakura scoffed, stepping around where Harry was to grab the book. He stooped down to pick it up and…

"_Accio…"_

The book flew away from him, crashing into a bookshelf near the door, causing a good amount of books to fall off the shelves, creating a loud din. The two Slytherins cringed- the noise was sure to attract some attention from the caretaker or his kooky cat.

Malik, having recovered from his meeting with the wall, leapt for the book, only to have it snatched up by the invisible Hermione, who stumbled back and fell over. Yet, she never relinquished her grip on the book. Malik made to go after the invisible Hermione, but a hiss caught his attention.

It was Missus Norris, Filch's cat. She appeared briefly in the Library doorway, before vanishing just as quickly, cats' eyes glowing in the dim moonlit room.

"Malik! Leave the book!" Ryou wailed plaintively, and Malik looked from Hermione to Ryou.

"But Ryou, Nee-chan will…!" Malik protested, and Ryou shook his head.

"Ghosts can't leave the place in which they died!" Ryou explained. "Even if she has the book we can still get it some other night!" Malik hesitated, and tears started to form in Ryou's eyes.

"Please! We'll be in a lot of trouble if the caretaker comes and sees this mess of a library while we're still here!" Malik groaned, running a hand through his hair messily.

"Alright," Malik conceded backing away, the two joining at the exit. "But we need to get that book before those Gryffindors' do. Nee-chan will murder me if they find anything out…" And the two vanished from sight, not even their footsteps audible.

"'Mione?" Harry whispered at last, cloak hood falling down. Hermione shushed, and scampered over, shoving the book to him.

"Shush!" Hermione shushed him, "Take the book and put your hood back up- Filch will be here any minute." Harry nodded, flipping the hood of the invisibility cloak up and taking the book quickly. He turned, and took barely even a step towards the door before Filch came to the door.

He was quick to pitch a fit, and quick to leave for the Headmaster- or perhaps maybe Umbridge. Either way, Harry and Hermione took the gift for what it was and made their departure equally swift as the previous two. Neither wanted to get caught by Filch lurking in a destroyed library.

Disappearing from the library, only one person remained. A cricket chirped twice, before a laugh sounded through the room, and that person, too, vanished, after one more cricket chirp.

"_Chirrup…."_

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

"This is the book?" Ron said looking at the black book with the golden eye on the front. "It looks bloody creepy."

"Well," Hermione huffed, "It's obviously important if those two were willing to trash a _library_ for it. Honestly!" Hermione spouted the word 'library' as if it were sacred, and Harry refrained from pointing out that it was her own plan that went awry and led to the inevitable destruction of the library.

"I wonder what it says…" Harry wondered aloud looking at the book.

"I guess we'll find out tomorrow," Hermione responded. "It's late, and I don't know about you two, but I'm ready to go to bed." She leaned over and picked up the book before standing.

"I'm going to keep this in the girls' dormitory." Hermione said before either boy could comment. "It's safer in the girls than the guys."

"But what if Amane steals it or something?"Ron asked, and Hermione shook her head, with a small knowing smirk.

"Honestly," Hermione sighed. "Trust me Ronald. I have a good feeling that neither one will go to Amane for help in acquiring it."

"If you say so," Harry relented dubiously.

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

Ryou sighed as he laid back in bed. He was really tired, and he knew he should sleep, but it wouldn't come. This unsettling unease he had been feeling- this off feeling, it wouldn't go away, and the nights activities didn't seem to help him any.

They had lost the Shadow Magick book to a ghost. And it wasn't just any ghost either…

It was strange for a ghost to make sounds while they walked. It was even stranger for a solid and human looking leg to pop out of thin air and trip somebody. Ryou had no doubt. Harry and company had been there tonight to retrieve the book. That meant that the book was currently in their possession.

In the Gryffindor Tower.

And, if they had common sense, they'd probably be hiding it in the female's dormitory as so he and Malik weren't able to acquire it if they did manage to get into the Gryffindor Tower. Yet, it wasn't that difficult to get into the Gryffindor Tower.

No, it wasn't difficult at all.

Not when you had an identical twin in that same house…

Now all Ryou had to do was make sure Malik didn't hear his plan, else he would never live it down…

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

So, do you guys know what Ryou's plan is? Well, even if you don't, you'll find out next chappie! Kukuku, I'm so evil...

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Chapter 16 should be out on the 3rd, if not then the 4th. I have it started, but I also have musical rehearsels starting the beginning of the New Year on top of other practices, so the updates may get slow. But, I'm going to perservere and try and get them out in a timely manner! ^_^

You've got the routine by now! Read, Review, and Tell Me What You Think! ^_^

~~Paw-Chan Signing Out~~


	16. Thieving the Thieves

Omigosh! I haven't seen you guys since, like, last year! XP *Gets shot for bad pun*

So, here's the update, and I was really shocked at how pretty much everybody knew what Ryou was going to do. But, then again, it probably wasn't that hard... ^_^ That's my smart readers for yah! ^_^

This is the longest (in my opinion) chapter yet, and after I got past the first part, it was a really fun one to type. I hope you guys have as much fun reading it as I did writing it.

**Disclaimer: Nope. Still don't own anything. Are we surprised by this? Not really...**

"This is going to be awesome!" The voice rose over the previous humming in giddy excitement. A brush swept through silver-white locks of hair. Matching eyes connected through the mirror.

"It is, isn't?" An equally excited voice broke to through the silence of the empty bathroom. "Really exciting!"

"Imagine their shock if they ever found out!" The first spun in a quick circle, before continuing the previous task they had been doing.

"Which they won't," The second said sharply, "They can't. We'll both be in a lot of trouble."

"I know," The first sighed, the sound of something clacking together breaking through the conversation for a moment. "But still, this is going to be great!" The second managed a small smile.

"Yes. Yes it is."

**Chapter 16:**

**_The Greatest Trick of them all-_**

**_Thieving the Thieves._**

"I hope you understand why I can't just give you the password to the Tower." She said as they made their way down to the Great Hall.

"I do," He answered, a light smile upon his face. "House Unity and that sort of stuff. But, you can't help it if I happen to _overhear_ it. Besides, it's only just this once. And the passwords change anyways. So even if I wanted to, I wouldn't be able to get back into the Tower after this." The laughed in agreement, smiles on their faces.

They came to a halt before the Entrance Hall, and in turn, the Great Hall.

"Ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

"This is going to be the greatest trick of them all, isn't it?"

"It is."

And they then entered the Great Hall.

"That's a rare sight, isn't it?"

"Well, they are siblings…"

"Still! You never saw it before, did you?

"Imagine what their Houses are saying…"

"Maybe they're just pushing for House Unity…"

"It's a Gryffindor _and_ a Slytherin! Like that'll ever happen…"

Whispers flew across the Hall like they did every time students saw the Bakura twins come to a meal together. No matter how cute some students thought it was, it never made it less rare to see a Gryffindor and a Slytherin coming to anything together. It simply did not happen. (In a way, this did explain why no one actually made a fuss when the Patil twins came to a meal together)

The mutterings died down though as the twins parted and made it to their own tables. Ryou took his normal seat by Malik (girls some time muttering how it was unfair how two cute transfers got placed in the worst house) and Amane took her usual seat alongside the Gryffindor trio (boys muttering how unfair she was hanging with Potter and wondering if her brother was over protective.)

Breakfast went on for a bit, before a topic came up that startled the Bakura sitting at the Gryffindor table.

"You seem… different today, Amane." Hermione said at last, tapping her fork against the edge of her plate. Her tone was indifferent, but there was a look to her eyes that told the other that she had figured out in the short time period that had passed that there was something up with the elder twin.

"Really?" Amane didn't seem perturbed a bit, and Hermione bit back a curse in her head. Amane didn't seem at all affected by what Hermione had said. If anything, Hermione pondered as she studied the transfer, it was almost as if she had been waiting for Hermione or someone similar to ask a question like that.

But, none the less, Harry and Ron jumped in almost immediately.

"Yeah," Harry agreed, studying the girl across from him. "'Mione's right. Something's different about you today." Ron said something, but as his mouth was full of food at the time, it came out garbled and earned him a glare from both girls sitting across the table from him.

"I said," Ron repeated what he said that had been mashed up with his food, "Maybe it's her hair…" He trailed off at the looks that he received. "Or maybe not…"

"Well…" Amane seemed to decide to amuse Ron. "It is the reason why I came to breakfast with Ryou-nii." She gave a smile as she tilted her head to the side. Reaching a hand up, she tapped one of the hair ties that were keeping her hair up into two separate pig tails.

They were two separate balls, like that which would make up a muggle kids' toy that would bounce back and forth, hitting each other to produce a 'clacking' noise. They were dual colored balls; red and gold, which were Gryffindor colors. Each tie had one of the colors.

"I got the hair ties as a gift for my birthday," Amane smiled. "And I asked Ryou-nii's help for putting my hair up." She left out a small sigh, before saying in a softer tone, "I'm just a little sad we don't get to spend more time together…"

Nothing more was said between them for the rest of breakfast.

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

Ryou was having an extremely hard time to find a moment that he could slip away from the Golden Trio to slip into Gryffindor Tower alone to get the book back. Things were looking pretty grim for him, right up until the class right before dinner; Defense Against the Dark Arts. (It was also cutting it _extremely_ close to the time that he'd have to switch with Amane, seeing as it _was_ the last class of the day…)

They had been sitting in class, reading, with Professor Umbridge stalking the aisles up and down, making sure students were doing their assignments (for they had a habit of not doing it (on purpose) and then skipping out of her class because they were 'sick' (which she had no proof that they weren't)) when it had occurred.

Hermione, who had been sitting at her desk, re-reading the chapters assigned that she had already read, disappeared. Vanished, for no reason. Popped out of existence. To the naked eye, it appeared as if Hermione had been removed from the classroom by an unknown force, startling the whole classroom, as well as Hermione herself (who most definitely had not been apparated away from a school surrounded by anti-apparating wards.)

The murmurs started immediately. Hermione had vanished into thin air, and the fifth years didn't know the cause. Some of them were snickering too. Sure, they felt bad for Hermione, but hadn't Umbridge been adamant that they weren't going to get hurt in her classroom? And here they were, almost halfway through October, and barely a month and a half into term, when a student in the middle of her class, vanished for no reason!

"Ne~? What's going on?" Malik asked, seeming to notice the chaos that had suddenly erupted around the table he and Ryou (who was in reality Amane.)

"It… seems like Hermione… disappeared." To anyone else, it would appear as if Ryou was trying to process what just happened. To Malik, and the Amane sitting at the table next to them, it was quite obvious that he was trying not to laugh (which was quite un-Ryou like, and the real Ryou was shooting glares at his sister.) Malik cast a quick glance to where Amane was, and found her quite unshaken by her fellow Gryffindor's disappearance (which Malik was convinced that she should have reacted at least a little, seeing as she was part of the poor girl's house.)

"Hermione?" Harry finally managed to say, and swatted his hand into the thin air that was surrounding Hermione's chair, as if she were still seated there, only invisible.

Unfortunately (or perhaps, fortunately), Hermione was indeed _still_ there, only invisible.

"Ow!" Her disembodied voice yelped as Harry's hand slapped her, and Harry jerked his hand back upon hitting Hermione, before yelping in reply as his shoulder was smacked in reply to his hitting Hermione.

"Sh-She's still there?" Ron yelped, and Harry felt as though Hermione was giving them one of her, 'you're acting like an idiot' looks.

"Of course I'm still here Ronald." Hermione's tone was unruffled, and she sounded very annoyed. "Why wouldn't I still be here?"

"I suppose," Malik's voice drawled from his seat towards the back, sounding very much as if he was trying (and failing) to hide his amusement at the situation. "It would have something to do with your image just disappearing from your seat, leaving only your voice as proof that's you're still in the classroom."

"Wha-?" Hermione was the one confused now. Then, it was obvious that she looked at her hands, or some other part of her body, because the next thing that came out of her mouth was a scream.

And to Malik, it was a familiar scream. A _very_ familiar scream, to be precise.

It seemed as if he had found his thief.

Although, he thought as he glanced to his side where Ryou was perched, he needed to have a chat with Ryou before confronting the Golden Trio. Or instead, should it be 'Bakura' that he'd be referring to his friend as after class?

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

Ryou slunk through the Gryffindor common room. It was dinner time, which meant that most of the Gryffindors' were either at dinner, or visiting with Hermione in the Hospital Wing, where she had been escorted during the Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson. As it was, he was going to have to get this done quickly and get back down to the Great Hall/Dungeons because as they were dismissed for dinner, Malik had informed Ryou that he had needed to borrow Ryou (which in reality meant he was borrowing Amane) for a minute. (Ryou honestly hoped that he hadn't figured out that the two had switched. He would never live it down if Malik had.)

Reaching up to his hair, which he had so mortifyingly allowed Amane to twist up into pig tails, he removed the one reason why he allowed it to be down. The hair ties.

True to what he said that morning, they had been a birthday gift that Amane had received from their Uncle Lucius*****. But, there was something else that he had left out in telling the Golden Trio. And that was the little… ah… _feature_, shall we say, that the little balls of the hair ties held.

You see, each color ball held a spell. There were only two color balls, meaning only two spells. In order to activate the spell you had to clack the two balls with matching colors together. The red was the stunning spell, but Ryou was interested in that.

For you see, all the girls' dormitories had the same enchantment upon them. No guy is able to climb the steps to the girls' rooms. However, with a certain charm it can be done. And with Ryou and Bakura giving the spell a little boost with their Shadow Magick to make sure it worked, it was going to be a snap for them to sneak up to the dorm and grab the book.

The golden balls were the Confundus Charm******.

/Here goes nothing,/ Ryou thought between him and Bakura, closing his eyes.

Letting the magick flow from his fingertips into the hair ties, he took a deep breath before clacking them together.

/…Did it work?/ Ryou asked at last, and for his question, he got an irritated answer from an irritated yami who was irritated that his irritating hikari had to go and be irritating and dress up as his irritating sister for the day, who was just… damn irritating!

\I don't know,\ Bakura snapped, extremely irritated. \Why don't you go find out?\

Ryou sighed; it was obvious that his yami was annoyed. And, as much as Ryou hated to admit, he was a little annoyed as well. But, it was going to be worth it as soon as he got that book back for Malik.

So, he went, and he took a step.

And another.

And then another.

And another step still.

Then another step after that.

And nothing happened, so he continued.

Much to Ryou's surprise, nothing happened with the staircase to incline that it even thought that he was not the specified gender that was only allowed to climb its steps.

/That… was surprising…/ Ryou said at last after he made it to the top of the steps. Bakura didn't answer, but Ryou had already had a nagging feeling that his yami wasn't going to answer him as he walked down the hall.

It hadn't taken him long to find the fifth year girls' dorm room. It was marked with a plaque that read 'Fifth Years', and underneath it, all the girls who inhabited the room had inscribed their name on the door by some means or another.

Entering the room, he found it to be sort of like the Slytherin dorms, except for the fact that it was a girl's dorm (so it had girl sort of stuff strewn about) and it was in Gryffindor colors.

Taking a look around the room, Ryou looked, trying to determine which would be Hermione's bed and trunk. There was no way to tell by the stuff left around to tell whose bed was whose, and there was no telling when any of the girls' from the dorm would come back from dinner and up into the room.

But how was he to find Hermione's bed and the book before that…? Then it struck him.

The names on the door! It wasn't only some silly girl thing to tell who was in the dorm, but it was also giving the order of what girl slept in which bed!

/If I remember right,/ Ryou said to himself (and Bakura). /Then Hermione's bed is right next to Amane's. And Amane's bed is on the end, meaning I only have to check two beds (if that) and I have Hermione's./

Hermione's name was second to last on the list of girls inscribed on the door. Standing and looking at the half circle the girls' beds were in, Ryou pondered a moment. If he was right, then he would be able to just _find_ Hermione's bed instead of searching the others.

Assuming the names were written on the door in the order of the beds from left to right, that meant Hermione would have the fifth bed from the left; or the second bed from the right.

Stepping towards the bed, Ryou stopped short of the bed, before pulling his wand out.

\Eh?\ Bakura seemed to get over his irritation for a moment to ponder himself over what his hikari was doing. \What's that for?\ He was obviously referring to the fact that Ryou was waving his wand over Hermione's bed, muttering aloud to himself in a low tone.

/Well,/ Ryou huffed, seeming just as irritated as Bakura was. /We don't know if Hermione has any charms or spells up around her bed and stuff that's anti-thief. I don't want to be setting any off accidentally./ After a moment, Ryou spoke again.

/See?/ He told Bakura. /She does have spells up! If we set them off, it would've been really suspicious!/ Then, without waiting a moment, he flicked his wand.

"_Finite Incantatum_," He murmured, disabling the protective charms and spells that had been set up to prevent thefts. That done, he set to work, carefully searching her bed and bedside to find the book, making sure he replaced everything exact (of course, with help from Bakura). It would look a little suspicious if anything was out of order.

Sitting back on his knees, Ryou let out a grumbling sigh. He couldn't find it anywhere! Maybe it wasn't in Hermione's stuff… Maybe it was with Ron or Harry's…

\You didn't check her trunk.\ Bakura quipped from where he had been mostly silent during the search.

/Wha-?/ Ryou said, and Bakura nodded.

\Think, stupid yandounishi,\ Bakura growled, though it didn't seem to Ryou like he was being mean. \If you can't find it in any of her stuff surrounding or underneath the bed, then where else is there to look? _Her trunk_. That's the only place that you haven't searched yet. Sheesh, use your brain.\ Ryou nodded, and told Bakura the one thing that he thought he'd never have to tell Bakura.

/You're right./ And Bakura was so stunned into silence by his hikari's proclamation that he had no words to come back at him when Ryou made his way over to the trunk, casting the spell,

"_Alohamora,_" on it in a small whisper. The trunk popped open slowly after the clicking and sliding noises of its locks coming undone finished. Once that was done, he started pawing discreetly through the trunk, before his hand hit something thick.

"_Lumos,_" He mumbled, and stuck his wand tip into the trunk. Looking down where he had hit something, he saw nothing but blackness, which was odd, seeing as his wand was lighting up the trunk.

Then it hit him. The book was black.

"_Nox,_" Ryou whispered, extinguishing the light from his wand, and shifting everything out of the way to pull the book out. He pulled it out, and examined it quickly.

The Eye of Horus was resting on the front of it, a menacing flickering purple sticking out from the black color that had filled the rest of the book with the color. There was no doubt about it- it was the book they had tried to get the other night at the library.

Waving a hand over it, with the help of Bakura, the book turned invisible. Still, he placed the invisible book into his bag (and it was truly his bag, as he and Amane had the same classes and pretty much the same bag) just so it wouldn't look weird that his arms were cradled around nothing.

Standing up, he slung the bag back over his shoulder, and popped the lid of Hermione's trunk closed, waving his wand and muttering the spell _encierra_******* to relock it. There was no way that he could replace Hermione's spells that had cloaked her bed, so he had to hope that she wouldn't notice that they were gone.

He stood up, and was just past Amane's bed towards the door when the sound of the doors latch being released clicked, and the door started opening. And the sound of girls' giggling wafted in through the door crack.

There was only one thing that entered Ryou and Bakura's shared mind. And that was,

/\ _Oh crap/shit_/\

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

***If you remember, in Ch. 5 it was said that the twins are related to the Malfoys. Just in case you forgot. ^_^**

****I think this is how you spell that charms' name. If not, let me know and I will correct it as soon as humanly possible.**

*****This is completely and utterly made up. I don't know the actual spell, and the Spanish word for 'to lock' popped into my head, so I put it in the command form, and said, "Hey! I have a new spell!" And that's where it came from. It's totally made up.**

^_^ Aww man! Aren't I evil? I totally and completely left you hanging!... I like it. *Gets Shot*

Update will be next week again. I will try and keep updates on Mondays, however Musical practice is starting up and I have other stuff popping up that update dates may be moved back a few days. I will try and keep updates on Mondays though for as long as possible, because I enjoy imagining that my story perks up your day (even if it doesn't.)

So, you know what to do! Read, Review, and Tell Me What You Think! ^_^

~~Paw-Chan Signing Out~~

P.S.~ My best friend is urging me to tell you to keep off the sidewalks and stay in the roads when taking your daily strolls. Something about a maniac named 'Scarpaw' who just got her learners permit, or something like that. I have no clue what she is talking about though...

!~Ja ne~!


	17. Switch And Twitch

Chapter 17! ^_^ So exciting, right? No? Really? Oh... You are. OF course you are excited! You get to find out what happens with Ryou this chapter! ^_^

So, without further pause, Chapter 17! ^)^

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything...**

_He was getting annoyed. The time was soon, and he was impatient. He wanted the time to come quicker, but for now all he could do was wait. Wait and watch as his host went about her days, completely oblivious as to what was being plotted, enjoying each day as if she were still going to be around the next._

_Which, unfortunately, for a while was still going to be true…_

**Chapter 17: Switch And Twitch**

"And so, I was like, 'Nuh-uh!' And like the idiot he is, he went and was like, 'Yuh-huh!' Oh, it was so annoying Parvati! I wished I could've just transfigured him into, like, a rat, or something to get him to stop."

Ryou gulped. He recognized the voices. One was Lavender Brown, and the other was Parvati Patil. Both of them fifth years. Meaning, they were in this dorm.

/W-What do I do?/ Ryou was panicking on the inside, and Bakura was laughing for all it was worth, not realizing that if they were found out now there would be some serious consequences.

\No f*cking clue, yandounishi.\ He laughed. \But you better figure it out quick!\

"If only," Parvati huffed. "I mean, seriously? That Raziel***** needs to stop. He's just plain annoying."

"I know, right?" Lavender agreed, stepping into the dorm room. Then noticing Amane, both girls immediately shut up.

"Oh, Amane. I didn't know you were up here." Lavender said first. Ryou blinked. Did they not like his sister, or something along those lines?

"Umm, it's okay...?" Ryou said, his statement sounding more like a question than anything. After a moments' silence, Ryou shouldered his bag. "Alright then…" And he quickly left the room. However, he wasn't that far from the room when he heard them talking again.

"Such an odd girl…"

"Yeah, I mean, always looking at those weird books." Parvati, Ryou thought it was, agreed, causing Ryou to stop. _Weird books? What is she talking about?_

"Seriously, her brother is more normal than her!" Lavender sighed, and there was a soft thump, which was what Ryou presumed was Lavender flopping back on her bed.

"Yeah," Parvati went along. "Books on possession and spirits and all that junk. What could be so fascinating about all that?" Ryou felt his heart leap a chasm to his throat.

_That's because it isn't._

"And then there's that weird pet of theirs…"

_She's looking for a way to get rid of a spirit._

His hand unconsciously went to the Gryffindor colored shirt he was wearing, where the Ring sat underneath.

_And I bet it's Bakura she wants to get rid of._

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

_Meanwhile (Back to about half-way or so through last Chapter)…_

"Hey Amane, I need to borrow your brother," Malik waved cheekily to the Gryffindor as he slung his arm around 'Ryou's' shoulder. Then, without waiting for a response, Malik proceeded to drag 'Ryou' (who was in reality Amane) down the halls to an empty one where Malik was fairly certain they weren't about to be overheard.

Then, without warning, Amane was shoved back. Stumbling, she could only watch as the other boys' wand was pointed at her. Her instinct was natural, pulling her own wand, pointing it right back at Malik.

"What the hell?" She snarled. To hell with pretending they were the other- Amane would let Malik know who she was. What she wanted to know was why there was a wand pointed at her that she had no doubt would've been her brother if they hadn't switched. "What's wrong with you?"

"Heh," Malik laughed, totally unfazed. "I should be asking you that, _Bakura."_ Before Amane could blink, Malikhad already cast a spell with his wand and hers went flying after his shouted,

"_Expelliarmus!_" Her wand was wrenched out of her hand, soaring down the hall. Amane blinked, and clenched her hands at her sides.

"Not on friendly terms, are we _Ishtal_?" Amane bit back, appalled. What could cause Malik to hate her brother so? LAst she knew, they were really good friends.

"Why would I be with you?" Malik snarled himself. "After what you put Ryou through." And Amane froze, all anger leaving her body.

"What _I_ put Ryou through…?" Confusion was in her voice, brow furrowing. What was he talking about?

"I'm not falling for your act." Malik raised his wand, spell spilling through his lips. "_Stupefy!_" He would just stun his friend and take the Ring. That would be the safest course of action. Because there was obviously no doubt that this was not Ryou- it had to be the Ring spirit.

"_Protego!__******_" Amane shouted back, raising her hand, praying that this would work. She didn't know if the spell would work without her wand, but it was worth a shot.

And, much to Amane's luck, it did work. The shield spell worked, and stopped Malik's spell.

"Stop this Malik!" Amane asked, taking a step towards the Slytherin, who took a step back, a snarl on his lips.

"Why should I? You hurt Ryou, damn it! You greedy, power hungry bastard!" Amane didn't flinch. Worse words had been flung around before, and she knew by now that Malik wasn't really referring to her. He thought that she was that spirit that had been in the pendant that their father had given Ryou.

Taking a few steps back, Amane went and bent to pick up her wand.

"What are you doing?" Malik hissed, and Amane turned her head to the side to see that his wand was trained on her. If he fired at her now, she would most likely not be able to stop the spell.

"Picking up my wand." Amane prayed that she didn't sound cheeky. "Listen Malik, just let me pick my wand up. I have something to show you." Malik eyed her warily, but allowed her to pick up her wand, dark words being muttered.

"…not seal my soul in my wand…" Amane's ears pricked at this, what was he talking about? But another voice in the edge of her consciousness told her to ignore it, that it wasn't important. And, like she always did for some reason, she listened to it, no matter how much the voice tormented her. Or, at least, she thought it did… She wasn't certain at times…

"Watch." Amane said simply, and she pointed her wand at herself. An invisible infinity symbol was drawn in the air, and slashed through with a jab.

Malik watched, amazed as there was a glitter of light around Ryou/Amane, and it was replaced with Amane, in her true Gryffindor colors and uniform, rather than the Slytherin colors and her brothers' uniform.

"I'm not that Ring Spirit, Malik," Amane said sincerely. "I'm Amane. Ryou and I switched for the day." Malik's mind bypassed the 'Ring Spirit' comment, focusing on the fact that Ryou had switched with his sister and acted as a girl for the day.

"Wait- what?"

"Surprised, Ishtal?" A voice popped up from behind the two, and they turned to see everybody's favorite cousin.

"I mean, even I knew." Malfoy's voice was haughty, and Amane pouted.

"You knew?" Malik's voice was incredulous. It had taken him all day to get that the two had switched.

"He always knows," Amane grumbled. "Ever since we pulled it on him when he was seven he has figured out when to tell that we switched."

"Yes," Malfoy groused. "And you should be thankful that as Prefect I didn't tell either Head of Houses." Malik blinked. Ryou would actually do something that would risk getting him in trouble? He just couldn't see it.

"But Darcy wouldn't tattle," Amane laughed, looking at Malik, waving her wand and returning the uniform to its proper attire. "In Slytherin its' family before all else."

"'Sides," Amane laughed, doing a twirl that in Malik's eyes looked really creepy for the fact she looked more like Ryou in the Slytherin uniform (and Malik couldn't see Ryou doing a twirl), and hooked her arm around Malfoy's shoulder. "Darcy wouldn't tell anybody 'cuz he's to full of pride. It would damage his reputation if it got out that his cousins were switching places- especially seeing as were opposite genders." She paused before giving a charming smile. "And, having pictures from that little _incident_ all those years ago doesn't hurt either."

_"Blackmail won't work on me and you know it," _Malfoy hissed to his cousin.

"Just how long were you here?" Malik asked, narrowing his eyes at the Slytherin, ignoring what was said between the two relatives. He wasn't proud of himself for how he had jumped the gun, and he had said some things that wouldn't be good if the other boy found out.

"Long enough." Was Malfoy's shrugged reply, effectively getting Amane off his shoulder in the process. "What I did or didn't hear between you two isn't something I'm just going to tell you." Malfoy smirked and shrugged his shoulders.

"I do have this advice though," Malfoy said over his shoulder as he left. "If you two don't switch back before curfew, I will tell the Head of Houses, pride or no pride."

"Stupid cousin," Amane growled, turning to leave.

And Malik almost let her, when something finally dawned on him.

"Wait- you know about the Ring Spirit?"

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

_[A/N: Get ready for a show of vainness]_

"Is she going to be alright Professor?" The question floated off in the silence of the Hospital Wing, where Harry, Ron, Madame Pomfrey, and Professor McGonagall were all standing. Hermione they assumed was sitting on the bed. She kept flickering between visible and not, as if she wasn't able to decide whether she wanted to be seen or not.

"I'm not sure." McGonagall responded, staring down at Hermione. "Now, Miss Granger, do you care to explain how you ended up this way?" Harry felt a stare settle on him, and he knew that even though she was invisible, Hermione was shooting him a '_You better thank me for this later_' look.

"I-I don't know." Hermione's voice came unsteadily through thin air, and Harry had to give Hermione props. She was a good actor when she needed to be.

"Now Miss Granger, we both know you're smarter than that," McGonagall's tone was clipped and her voice slightly reprimanding, but Hermione was unfazed.

"I-I think it may be because of the Disillusionment Charm I've been practicing." Hermione admitted finally in a small voice, and Harry had to contain his look of shock. Hermione couldn't seriously be telling McGonagall what they did, could she?

"And?" McGonagall said to get the girl to continue. It was certainly no surprise to her that Miss Granger had been practicing upper level spells- she had been doing that since the first day she had been in Hogwarts. What McGonagall wanted to know was how she managed to get the spell cast on herself on the first place and why she did it as well.

"Well," Hermione went on, her voice a tad bit like she was getting ready to cry. "Lavender and Parvati keep making fun of me!"

This time, both Harry _and_ Ron's jaws dropped. Could this be real? Hermione was actually lying to a teacher about something both boys knew would never happen since first year*******?

Before either Matron or Professor could continue, Hermione went on speaking, voice sounding tear filled. Harry was betting that Hermione was glad that she was invisible for the moment.

"They keep making fun of my hair," Hermione went on saying, and Harry found himself wondering just what exactly Hermione was doing besides talking. Was she moving her hands like someone else would do to get her point across, even though they couldn't see her? Or were her hands simply folded on her lap? "And they make a big fuss over theirs'. So I decided to learn the Disillusionment Charm to turn their mirrors and hairbrushes invisible." As if realizing something, Hermione added,

"I-I mean, it wouldn't be for long," She tacked on. "O-Only a handful of days, a week a most! Just to get the point across." Then, all of a sudden, Hermione flashed back into existence. Her head was bowed, she was wringing her hands in her lap, and there were some tears leaking down her face.

Harry felt bad for his fellow Gryffindor- what if this story was mostly truth?

"S-So I waited until dinner last night," Hermione wouldn't look at any of the occupants of the room, keeping her eyes averted. "And then I went up to the dorm after they had gone to dinner. I went and cast the spell on their stuff, but when I cast it on Lavender's mirror, I-I guess it reflected back at me because I was still able to see the edges of the mirror, but I couldn't see myself in the mirror. I cast _Finite Incantatum_ back on myself, and then used the spell on the opposite side of the mirror._"_ Hermione lifted her head up to look at McGonagall with one flash of a sincere look before she hiccupped back into invisibility.

"I-I thought I was alright, b-but then this happened!" Hermione's voice warbled once more out of nowhere, and it sounded like she was really sincerely crying.

"I-It'll be alright 'Mione," Harry said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head. Neither boy was quite sure what to say to get their friend to stop crying.

"Y-Yeah," Ron agreed. "I-It'll be alright- right?" Harry elbowed Ron in the side, earning him a suppressed yelp and a dirty look.

Yet, instead of receiving an answer, they got a,

"Potter, Weasley, I do believe that dinner is almost over- you wouldn't want to miss it, now would you?" And the look on their Head of House's face showed that there was no argument and that they didn't want to miss it despite the fact that they _did _if it kept them with Hermione.

"No Ma'am." Both boys said together, turning tail and leaving the room.

And, as they were leaving, they ran into Malik and Amane (which was very odd in itself, seeing as you normally only saw Malik and Ryou together, and not Malik and Amane). Amane's hair was down, and on her face was a look that could only appear to be worry.

"Sorry," The boys apologized for running into them.

"Uh, are you here to see Hermione?" Harry asked, and Amane nodded.

"Yeah," Which Harry found odd, because she had had such a passive face on during class, that it seemed like she honestly didn't care what happened to her fellow classmate. "Is she alright?"

"She'll be fine," Both Slytherin and Gryffindor saw through the lie, but neither commented. "But we were just kicked out."

"Oh." Was the consensus of Amane and Malik.

"Why did she turn invisible anyways?" Malik inquired cautiously. He knew it was something that the Gryffindors would probably not tell, but it was worth a shot.

"Spell accident, why you asking?" Ron responded, and Malik shrugged.

"Just wondering."

"We were just heading down to dinner. Do you wanna come with, Amane?" Harry asked, blatantly ignoring Malik, who frowned.

"I'd love to," Amane beamed. "'Cept I can't. I promised Ryou I'd help him with some spell work he's been having trouble with."

Which was pretty much _very_ coded Amane-code for, '_I switched with my brother and I can't come because he's still pretending to me and we have to switch back._' Needless to say, only Malik understood.

"I'll come with," Malik said a bit distractedly, eyes seemingly staring at Harry but not at the same time, placing a hand on Amane's shoulder. "I need to have a talk with him."

"Alright." Harry said a bit suspiciously, like he didn't really believe either of them. "Next time, maybe?" And Amane nodded.

"Definitely." She smiled, before the two turned and left.

"What was that about mate?" Ron asked, and Harry stared after the leaving two as they rounded the corner, out of sight.

"Not sure," He said, digging through his bag before pulling a familiar swath of silvery cloth out of it and a piece of paper. "But we're about to find out."

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

***OC from a story I'm working on... Pick any year/house you'd like for him to be in.**

****Now, I know that this is highly improbable for the spell to work, but work with me alright? If Malik's spell got through, it would've been to easy, Ne~?  
(Also, in Spanish if I'm not wrong, Proteger is _to defend_, and Protego is _I defend_. I see no coincidence.)**

*****Hermione just seems like a strong girl. And also, if you remember in the first movie/book, there's a scene where Ron is making fun of Hermione to Harry in the courtyard after Charms class, and because of that she cried... And got trapped by a troll...**

So, how was the chappie? Good, I hope. And, because I'm a nice person, I'm going to let you in on my attack plan...

We should be at Hogsmeade by Chapter 19/20 (if not next), and Halloween will come shortly thereafter. Then, there's a set of surprise Chapters that I can't tell you about, 'cuz it'd ruin Halloween (so we'll call it the 'Halloween Arc' XP). By 30-35ish, we should be on the ball and at Christmas.

Things to expect?

_Betrayal._

_Lies._

_Friendship pushed to the ultimate test._

_Familial problems._

Until next time, you chiquis know what to do! ^_^ Review, and tell me what you think. I, on the other hand, have to go take an online french test that I haven't studied for...

Ja ne~!

~~Paw-Chan Signing Out~~


	18. Secret Secrets

No Excuse. Absolutamente(?) nada. I've had this done for months and I am just now getting this posted. I feel muy terrible... *sigh*

School is done for me, terrible end of the year crap aside. Hopefully, I'll be able to finish my stories this summer before senior year starts [yes, I'm that old already]. I can't promise frequent updates though, unfortunately. I have a crap load of AP work that needs to be done before school starts [don't give me that look] and I'm trying to get a job so I won't be broke and I can at least partially pay for my Costa Rica trip next year.

But enough rambling, here is the long awaited Chapter 18 of _Spider and the Fly_!

Enjoy!

_"This is Japanese."_ [of course, aside from random words italicized for emphasis]

**Disclaimer: I don't own HP or YGO**

"_If you could have one thing in the world, what would you take?"_

"_Power."_

"_Why power? I'd sooner believe that an inmate like you would want freedom."_

"_Don't get me wrong- I want freedom. But power sounds more appealing, now doesn't it?_

**Chapter 18: Secret Secrets**

"I still can't believe you did that Ryou!" Malik was laughing, clutching his sides as the three hid in a corner of the library, hidden by the various bookshelves.

"I can't believe you _told_ him," Ryou whined, glaring at Amane, sounding more like he was three rather than fifteen. "You _promised_ me you wouldn't."

"Well," Amane huffed, crossing her arms. "My hands were sort of tied Ryou. I had to. He had pretty much figured it out, anyways."

"Still," Ryou whined once more at his sister. "There was a reason why I didn't want Malik to find out." The twins had long since switched back to their appropriate uniforms, but the teasing hadn't let up one bit.

"That's alright," Malik announced to no one in particular. "I mean, it's not like I'm offended or anything, you carrying on a conversation about _me_, right in front of _me_." The twins blinked, turning and looking at Malik. He blinked, trying to figure out which was which, before he remembered that they had switched back already, so Ryou had green lining his neck while Amane had red.

"But still, that was creepy," Malik sighed at last, leaning back in his chair. "I almost didn't figure it out. You two are able to play the other so well."

"Thanks," Was the consensus, one happy, the other miserable as they smashing their forehead into the grains of the table.

"But, there is something that I need to talk to you about," Malik said, tone serious, and Ryou picked his head up off the table, where it had been resting, ashamedly.

"What?" Ryou asked, hoping it wasn't more teasing. Malik's eyes tracked from side to side, before he leaned forward a little, his voice dropping in volume, in case someone was eavesdropping, forcing the twins to lean in closer towards the blonde.

"How could you tell your sister about the Items?" Malik growled, his hand cuffing Ryou's head. "You know only a few select people are supposed to know about them!"

"Well, uh," Ryou struggled to find a good answer, while Amane just huffed.

"Sorry," She snapped, in a tone that wasn't apologetic in the least. "If I actually _care_ about my brother." Malik's eyes narrowed, glaring at the girl.

"_Um, I had to,_" Ryou answered quickly, intervening and placing himself between Amane and Malik before a fight could break out (what _had_ happened while he was getting the book?). He spoke quickly in Japanese, figuring that it would be better to continue the conversation in a language that they only knew- to further deter eavesdroppers.

"_What do you mean you had to?_" Malik ground out, speaking in the language as well.

"_Nee-chan can be… very persuasive, when she wants to be._" Ryou finally admitted. "_It's hard to keep a secret from her._"

"_So you just told her?_" Malik was trying his hardest not to raise his voice; that would only get them in trouble with the person who was in charge of the Library. "_She didn't have the right to know!_"

"_And she is sitting right here, hearing every word you say,_" Amane cut in quickly with a glare of her own. "_So there's no use crying over spilt milk now- what's done is done. I__** told**__ you that already._" Malik didn't seem fazed, only a little irritated, as if she were a horsefly and he the horse.

"_Last I checked this was a conversation between me and your brother,_" Malik snapped. "_So why don't you do us a favor and scat, why don't you?_"

"Fine," Amane snapped back, switching to English. "See what I care. Just remember: I can tell the Headmaster at any time." She cast a meaningful look upon Ryou, who just stared impassively at his sister. "_Any time__**.**_"

"Alright," Ryou replied, sounding like he wasn't the least bit shaken. "We'll see how far you get with that, Amane." His face was a mask, but his eyes glinted meaningfully in the library's light, showing a flicker from brown to garnet and back.

"What was that about?" Malik asked, mildly curious, as Amane stalked off much like a cat that had been soaked in water.

"Hmm? Oh, nothing." Ryou responded, a bit distractedly. Malik stared at Ryou, noting the far-off gaze in his eyes.

"Ryou, I have something I've been meaning to tell you." Malik said suddenly, catching the other boys' attention.

"What is it?" Ryou asked, looking at Malik directly.

"Well, close to the beginning of the summer," Malik started, looking decidedly uncomfortable, and Ryou counted back quickly. How long had he had the Ring now?

And Ryou knew what his friend was going to say before he ever said it.

"_The Items were excavated." _Malik spoke low in Japanese. "_And the Ring… was missing._" Ryou did what he knew was expected of him; feigned shock. He had in reality had the inkling at the back of his mind that that was what had happened when the Ring had returned to him, but he now had the confirmation. But he still had to feign shock, because if he hadn't, Malik probably would know that he had the Ring.

And, as masochistic of him it may sound, Ryou didn't want to give the Ring up. He knew that the spirit had caused him trouble in the past, hurting him and whatnot, but Ryou couldn't just give Bakura away. He had changed, really! Bakura was putting in an honest effort to be nice to him, Ryou could tell! And Ryou couldn't just let Malik take Bakura away from him based on past faults.

"_So I need to ask you,_" Malik continued, tone a bit grave. "_Did the Ring return to you?_" Ryou must have paled, but not for the reason that Malik assumed when he went on talking.

"_He can't hurt you anymore, Ryou,_" Malik was assuring him, though that wasn't why he was pale. "_You can just hand the Ring over if you have it._"

He was pale because Malik knew without knowing he had the Ring, and Ryou didn't want to hand it over.

So, he did what came first, and what came naturally.

He lied.

"_I'm sorry Malik, I haven't seen the Ring since the Pharaoh was sealed away._"

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

A figure stumbled down the halls, almost drunkenly. Hands were raised to their head, clutching it as if the person was in agony. Lips moved, as if muttering something, then the head was shook as if they were in disbelief. The person tried to move down the hall more, but they fell to their knees. Their head was bowed so low that their forehead nearly kissed the ground.

Then, the figure stood up.

They weren't stumbling as if drunk; hands weren't cradling the head atop the body's shoulders as if in pain. They simply stood up. Head held up high, back straight, perfect posture in contradiction to how they had looked mere moments prior.

Darkness whirled by their ankles, before engulfing the figure with the shadow of a dragon, and one loud draconic cry.

And all that was left of the figure was one, glowing eye.

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

Isis paused in the middle of distributing books on desks for the mornings' Ancient Runes lesson. Setting the tomes down on a nearby desk, she made her way down the aisle, towards the window that encompassed the wall at the front of the classroom.

It was total darkness out, and nothing could be seen, not even the outline of the Forbidden Forest. Darkness that shrouded all, hiding the whole world from what was unknown.

Isis walked up to the window, laying a hand on the glass. It was freezing, despite how warm it was inside the classroom.

All of a sudden, a crow cawed, the sound of something clacking and shoving off against the window echoed through the room. The noise echoed throughout the room, continuing long after the faint outline of the crow had disappeared into the vast darkness encompassing the grounds of the castle.

Staring long and hard out the window, words finally spilt from Isis' lips, not even her reflection reflecting back at her from the window.

"_The time is coming… Soon all the light will have faded. It's a portentous sign; from herein forward the only help we'll have is from the thieves' sight."_

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

"_Are you ready?"_

"_Y-Yeah. Why wouldn't I?"_

"_Look- you can still back out now. You don't have to betray-"_

"_It doesn't matter! I said I'm ready, so I am!"_

"_I'm just making sure you understand what you're getting into!"_

"_I'm ready, damn it! Stop dancing around the topic!"_

"_Fine, fine! Sorry for trying to be __**nice.**__"_

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

"And so the pawn moves from his playing field to mine…" The whispered words had met his ears through his most loyal servant. Told the news by his most loyal servant, he couldn't help but allow the malicious glee that overcame him.

"Now, now," A figure laughed stepping from the shadows, but still in them enough to be shrouded by them. "Don't forget me. I can assure you I'm much better than any wild card _he_ has on his field."

"Oh?"

"Yes, because now you have _this._" The figure answered, before a book was tossed between them. He almost didn't catch what was said next, distracted by the living shadows that seemed to envelop the book, with the golden eye that rested on the front, the shadows curling menacingly around it like fingers.

"_**Everything you need to now on how to shroud the world in Darkness.**_

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

_It was a game of sorts, the stranger told him;  
And the rules were clear and straightforward to follow.  
All the boy had to do was sneak into the castle,  
Through a part of the wall that was hollow.  
__The boy was told it was to visit the king lying,  
__On his bed as he was slowly withering and dying._

_Sneaking into the castle sounded really exciting and fun,  
But the boy didn't exactly trust the stranger that he just met.  
So, with a withering look, the boy turned up his nose to the stranger,  
And decided after pondering that there were conditions to be set.  
__And with a grin, the boy smirked, feeling he was getting the best deal,  
__When in actuality, it was the stranger who was making the grander steal._

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

So, Ryou's a liar and Amane's threatening her brother, and Malik's clueless [?] as ever. Isis knows something is up, Voldemort now has just what he needs, and our mystery [yeah right!] antagonist is as mysterious as ever. Will we ever reach the end? Will the author ever update regularly? Will the pharaoh and Yugi show up in their tight leather pants? [That last one is a no, so you know. XP]

Next time, on _Spider and the Fly_:

_Halloween finally arrives, with stunning surprises and dreadfully accurate predictions. What will become of the Golden Trio, the Twins and Malik?_

Read and Review!

~~Paw-Chan Signing Out~~

P.S.~ Is it raining at anybody else's place? 'Cause I hope I'm not the only one getting woken up at 4:30 in the morning for a light show with an earth-splitting music display.


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